Here is what this center's policy looks like so far:

1) Let the respondent know that [this organization] is first and foremost concerned with their safety, so if at all possible we would prefer to set up an appointment to complete the interview when the respondent is not driving.

2) If the respondent tells you that the only way they will be able or willing to do the interview is if we will complete it while they are driving, then please proceed with the interview, unless:

a) you feel uncomfortable personally with this arrangement, in which case you can tell the respondent that you will not be able to complete the interview with them at this time and set up an appointment with them to complete the interview another time if possible, then note this on the face sheet and let the supervisor and/or project coordinator know.

b) You start the interview and it becomes clear that the respondent is either too distracted or in too much danger to concentrate on the interview and driving at the same time, at which time you should let the respondent know that you need to break off the iterview due to safety concerns and ask them if it would be possible to make an appointment (when the respondent is not driving) to complete the interview.

In summary, we want to make sure our respondents are safe and that our interviewers are comfortable with what they are being asked to do, but at the same time we recognize that for some busy professionals, etc., the only way to get then to complete the interview in some cases may be when the respondent is driving. Please use your best judgment in these situations.

So far, very few states have laws banning cell phone use while driving. It's common sense that anything drivers do while they drive can distract them long enough to be dangerous, but what activities are dangerous enough to ban? And what is practical?

I found some interesting information on the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee website. New York banned cell phone use while driving in 2001. A 1993 study by the University of Michigan, cited by the NYSGTSC (long acronym, I know) found that changing a cassette tape in the car stereo was more distracting than talking on the phone. Good thing we use CDs now.

A AAA study in 1991 found that any cell phone use, whether dialing or talking, "lead[s] to significant increases in response times or non-response to highway traffic situations."

Maybe the worst development in cell phone/driving behavior is the advent of text messaging as a common form of communication. I remember my horror a month ago when I realized that the driver of the airport bus from Times Square to the Newark, New Jersey airport was dialing a text message on her phone while we were in the narrow lanes of the Lincoln Tunnel next to a tanker that said "flammable" in big red letters. It seemed like the set-up to a disaster movie.

Not surprisingly, a survey of teen drivers done by Libery Mutual (August 2006) found that texting was one of the biggest driving distractions. Nationwide, another insurance company, found that 19% of drivers send text messages while driving (January 2007).

The Insurance Information Institute has a page full of cell phone/driving studies, and there's information backing every claim a reseaonable person might support, for and against cell phone use while driving. Some say reaching for things in the car is many times more distracting than using a phone. Others say that phone use compounds the likliehood of an serious accident four-fold.

The inevitable question arises: is it the use of one hand to hold the phone that causes a problem, or is it the distraction of talking? An alarming study done by the University of Utah in 2006 found that even hands-free cell phone devices made the use of phones while driving as dangerous as driving drunk.

Meanhwile, California passed a law that bans hand-held phone use while driving, but it won't go into effect until next year. Connecticut passed such a law in 2005, and New Jersey and Washington, D.C. did in 2004. The Insurance Information Institute says that 40 countries have cell phone/driving laws right now.

My aunt's call center isn't the first private entity to craft policies against cell phone use while driving. Perhaps prompted by lawsuits after car accidents, some businesses are telling their employees not to use their phones for business unless the car is parked. The California Association of Employers began recommending employers make guidlines against cell phone use in the car in 2004.

So what should call centers do? Is there a reasonable way for a call center to let callers know that driving on the phone isn't safe? Does your call center or business have an anti-cell phone/driving policy? Tell us about it in the comment box below or email me at hsheff@cmp.com