The following letter to the editor from AMTA on driving was published in several Melbourne suburban newspapers today.

THE false claim in your article ("Hello, you've just been fined" -Star, 25 March) that mobile phone use while driving is as dangerous as drink driving is based on mistaken assumptions and an incomplete review of the established research in this area.

More importantly, the comparison could undermine other driver-safety campaigns by reducing the stigma of driving while drunk and the comparison is considered irresponsible by some road safety authorities.

No one is questioning that mobile phone use imposes physical, visual, and cognitive demands on the driver.

However, drivers who get behind the wheel after drinking are more likely to take risks.

They have reduced perceptions of the risk involved because alcohol impairs judgement. A recent Australian study which compared the blood alcohol levels of drivers involved in actual car crashes found the risk of an accident was increased by 25 times at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08. Mobile phones have not been shown to present this level of risk in any research.

In 2002 in the USA, alcohol was a factor in approximately 41 percent of all fatal traffic crashes and in six percent of all crashes.

In comparison, data collected by about 20 state highway authorities shows mobile phones have been a factor in an estimated one half of one percent of all crashes and they are more likely to be a minor, rear-end collision.

AMTA has developed 10 mobile phone and driving safety tips (see www.amta.org.au) and by adhering to these simple common sense practices, drivers can make full, productive and safe use of mobile phones while enjoying the substantial public safety and personal security benefits they provide.

It should also be remembered that mobile phone users provide the extra eyes and voice for police in reporting aggressive, reckless or drunk drivers, accidents and other road hazards. More than 64 per cent of calls to emergency services originate from mobile phones.

Chris Althaus

Chief executive officer,

Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association.