CELLPHONES IN CARS: PHONES MORE DANGEROUS THAN POT

Dear Editor,

In reply to Ken J. Marsh [Police officers easier to believe, Jan. 9
Letters, Langley Advance] there have been extensive studies of
marijuana and both driving and flying by the British government.

The driving reports should be available from official U.K. sources
on the Internet, but the military study was leaked. They were used
in their decision to decriminalize marijuana about three years ago.

First, groups of motorists with and without marijuana were observed
as they drove around a figure-eight road course with a light at the
intersection. No essential differences in driving skills were noted
between the marijuana and non-marijuana groups.

Second, police analyzed all fatal road crashes nation-wide over a
year and concluded that marijuana was not a factor in any of them.

In the substance abuse category, alcohol was the overwhelming cause,
with a small percentage involving hard drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin.

Third, Royal Air Force pilots given standard marijuana doses were
tested on mock missions flown on a flight simulator. The pilots
performed so well that actual fighter planes could have been safely
flown for the test. The results astonished researchers who assumed
the pilots would crash on the simulator.

It is my understanding that cellphone use while driving is
restricted and enforced in the U.K. Apparently, British police
consider phone impairment a greater road danger than decriminalized marijuana.

I applaud Mr. Marsh for his safety concerns, and he will agree that
Canada must immediately ban hand-held phones in vehicles. To
paraphrase his letter, I would far rather take the word of a
policeman than that of motorists who can't face reality without
holding a phone to his or her ear.

Dale Fraser, Langley