Another Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the Louisville area Saturday. Chance for another inch of snow this afternoon. Travel advisory issued. Periods of low visibility and hazardous road conditions possible. Use caution.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the Louisville and Jefferson County area until 9:00 a.m. Friday. While accumulations are expected to be small, periods of heavy snow are expected. Temperatures are expected to drop and icy roads are likely. Wind is also expected to create blowing snow and white out conditions. Travel may be hazardous.

NTSB Recommends Banning Cell Phones in Cars

A new report from the National Transportation and Safety Board recommends that all states ban the use of cell phones while driving. This includes hands-free use of cell phones, through blue tooth devices.

“According to NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said in a statement. “It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving. No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life.”

While the agency does not have the power to enforce such a ban, it’s recommendations carry a huge amount of weight. Whether states are willing to enforce such a ban in today’s “anti-regulation climate” remains to be seen.

Other experts question whether the governments own studies support the claims the agency makes. Only recently, we reported on a study that called into question those statistics, believing they had been “overstated.” You can read about that report, here.

Furthermore, while an overwhelming amount of people tend to support such bans as “texting and driving”, the recommendation includes all cell phone use, including the use of hands free devices. Questions remain whether such a broad prohibition is as popular or even effective.

Would the ban of cell phone use while driving have the desired effect of preventing such distractions? It’s doubtful. Even though an overwhelming percent of Americans are in favor of “texting and driving” bans, almost half of adults and more than half of teenagers admit to reading or sending a text while driving. Making the behavior a violation of the law is no more likely to have an effect.

There is no doubt that “texting and driving” is a dangerous distraction that can lead to accidents. However, that doesn’t mean that the use of a cell phone, especially with a hands-free device, in all situations is an equally dangerous distraction. There simply is not a lot of information on just how distracting cell phone use is when compared to other distractions that are considered acceptable risks in operating a motor vehicle.

In fact, at least one study has concluded that its not the use of cell phones that cause accidents, but distracted drivers in general.  CNet reported on a study back in 2010 that found distractions, not cell phones per se, were the cause of most car crashes.  Experts noted that while cell phone use had exploded over the past several years, there has been no increase in the number of accidents.  You can read the entire article, here.

Studies May Have Overestimated Cell Phone Crash Risk

A new analysis of previous studies regarding crash risk due to cell phone use may have overestimated the risk a new report shows.

“In the new report, Richard A. Young of Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit finds that two influential studies on the subject might have overestimated the risk.  The problem has to do with the studies’ methods.  Both studies — a 1997 study from Canada, and one done in Australia in 2005 — were “case-crossover” studies.  The researchers recruited people who had been in a crash, and then used their billing records to compare their cellphone use around the time of the crash with their cell use during the same time period the week before (called a “control window”).

But the issue with that is that people may not have been driving during that entire control window.  Such “part-time” driving would necessarily cut the odds of having a crash (and possibly reduce people’s cell use) during the control window — and make it seem like cellphone use is a bigger crash risk than it is.

If that information were applied to the two earlier studies, Young estimates, the crash risk tied to cellphone use would have been statistically insignificant.  That’s far lower than the studies’ original conclusions: that cellphone use while driving raises the risk of crashing four-fold.

But that doesn’t mean you should feel free to chat and text away at the wheel, according to Fernando Wilson, an assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.  A number of other studies, using designs other than case-crossover, have suggested that cellphone use — and particularly texting — is hazardous on the road, Wilson told Reuters Health.

“In wider policy, I don’t think this study is going to change the conversation about distracted driving,” Wilson said. “Most of the conventional thinking is that we need to do something to reduce it.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 450,000 Americans were injured in crashes linked to distracted driving in 2009. Another 5,500 were killed.”

You can read the entire article here.

Ford Recalls 2010 Fusion/Milan

Ford Motor Company has issued a recall for 2010-2011 Fusion and Mercury Milan equipped with 17 inch wheels, due to concerns that the wheel studs may fracture.  This would lead to excessive vibration and if ignored, wheel separation.  That is, the wheels could actually come off.  Ford is unaware of any crashes that might have occurred as a result of the defect.

Owners will be notified the week of Jan. 24th.  Dealers will inspect the rear brake disc surface and replace the discs at no charge if necessary. The lug nuts will be replaced on all four wheels as well.

Subaru of America is recalling three of its car models and Honda Motor Corp. is recalling some models of motorcycles due to faulty brakes.

In some motorcycle model years from 2001-2012, a defect in the secondary master brake cylinder causes a drag that can lead to a crash or fire. Honda has reported 26 complaints. No indication on whether any injury crashes resulted. Read the MSN article here.