Distracted Drivers

In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term of study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cell phone use behind the wheel.

They sought the study based on evidence that such multitasking was a serious and growing threat on America's roads.

But the agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, did not commission such a study - in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress. And senior government officials decided not to make public the NHTSA research that led to that recommendation and other draft policies to curtail the use of phones by drivers.

Today, the full body of research is being made public for the first time by two consumer advocacy groups, which filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for the documents.

The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen provided a copy to The New York Times, which is publishing the documents on its Web site.

Jeffrey Runge, former head of the NHTSA, said he was urged to withhold the research to avoid angering members of Congress who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data.

Critics say that rationale and the failure of the Transportation Department, which oversees the highway agency, to more vigorously pursue distracted driving has cost lives and allowed to blossom a culture of behind-the-wheel multitasking.

"We're looking at a problem that could be as bad as drunk driving, and the government has covered it up," said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety.

The group petitioned for the information after The Los Angeles Times wrote about the research last year.

Highway safety researchers estimated cell phone use by drivers caused some 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents in 2002. They shelved a letter they prepared for Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to send. It warned states that hands-free laws might not solve the problem. It said that hands-free headsets did not eliminate the serious accident risk because a cell phone conversation takes drivers' focus off the road, studies showed.