The 21st Century Insurance Group has embarked on an education campaign with billboards to get motorists not to use cell phones while driving.
Explaining the company's effort, Dan Cohen, a spokesperson for 21st Century, said: "If cell phone use drives up the frequency of accidents, then like fraud it becomes a macroeconomic issue that may affect policyholders."
His company's "Just Drive" campaign features public safety billboards in states where the company provides auto insurance, including Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Texas.
In warning drivers of the dangers involved with cell phone use 21st Century cites a study referenced by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The IIHS notes a recent survey by the British Medical Journal found drivers who use cellular phones are four times as likely to be involved in a crash.
Cell phone companies in the United States declined to share customer billing records, even with customer permission, which limited the study to data gathered from drivers in Perth, Western Australia.
The study was based on cell phone billing records as well as interviews with the crash victims. The sample included 456 drivers aged 17 and over who owned or used mobile phones and had been involved in accidents requiring hospital treatment between April 2002 and July 2004.
The data showed that there was little deviation in risk between male and female drivers or senior drivers and drivers under 30. Hands-free devices were not found to have any effect in reducing the risk of an accident. The weather conditions also proved to be a non-factor in the results.
According to the study, 89 percent of the accidents involved another vehicle and more than half of the injured drivers had accidents in the first ten minutes of their trip.
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