Graphic

What if our graphic was a chart that showed different sources' data on how may wrecks per year are caused by cell phone usage? It would be interesting to compare how the numbers differ from source to source depending on the point they're trying to prove. Maybe.

FARS

I checked Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) website. They have national statistics on motor vehicle traffic crashes, but don't specify the cause of the crashes.
For more informations go to the FARS site here.

Info on my wreck

The really mangled car is the one driven by the girl who was talking on her cell phone. The Camaro was the front car; the
marks on the Camaro are from my Jeep Grand Cherokee's front grill. Mine was the middle car.
Wreck info...
The wreck occurred in March 2007. I was driving south on 12th street during rush hour traffic, which was stop-and-go. I came to
a complete stop. The driver of the rear car (a Toyota, I think) drove into the back of my Jeep, pushing my car into the Camaro
stopped in front of me. My seatbelt caught me, and my arm hit the shifter, moving it into neutral. My car was diagonal
between my lane and the oncoming traffic lane.
I got out of my car and ran to the car behind me, as did the two girls in the Camaro. When asked if she was alright, the
girl causing the accident was still on her cell phone. She asked if we had called the police, and, when told yes, continued to talk
on her phone. She could not open the driver's side door because it was deformed in the wreck.
I believe she was chaged with negilgence while driving...it's on the police report, which can be pulled up.
My car was totaled, with damage to the front and rear. I believe the Camaro was totaled as well.

New state info on cell phone crashes

Just got off the phone with Kara Phillips, spokesman for Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.

She said the numbers for crashes involving cell phones are skewed because drivers don't admit to the officer that they were on the cell phone at the time.
"The numbers we have are by admission only," she said.
Phillips said cell phones are usually not the main cause of an accident anyway. A driver can look down at a cell phone, she said, look up and try to swerve to miss colliding with a car or object in the road. The driver will often overcorrect and have an accident.
"It just causes a chain of events," Phillips said.