How Many Cell Phone-Related Vehicle Crashes Occurred in 1983?
The short answer is: We don't have reliable data on cell phone-related car crashes from 1983. This is because cell phones as we know them today — portable, readily available devices for making calls while driving — simply didn't exist in widespread use in 1983.
While car phones existed, they were incredibly expensive, bulky, and primarily used in vehicles by business professionals or high-income individuals. Their limited availability meant their contribution to accidents was statistically insignificant compared to other contributing factors like drunk driving, speeding, or driver error. Furthermore, data collection methods for traffic accidents didn't systematically track cell phone use as a contributing factor back then.
Therefore, trying to find a precise number of "cell phone-related" crashes in 1983 is a futile exercise. The technology was in its infancy, and the data simply wasn't being collected in a way that would allow for such a calculation.
What Kind of Data Was Available in 1983 Regarding Car Accidents?
In 1983, traffic accident data focused on factors like:
- Speeding: This was, and continues to be, a major contributor to accidents.
- Alcohol impairment: Drunk driving was a significant problem, and statistics on alcohol-related accidents were meticulously recorded.
- Road conditions: Weather, road quality, and visibility were all factors considered in accident reports.
- Driver error: This broad category encompassed many potential causes, including inattentiveness, fatigue, and poor judgment.
These factors dominated accident statistics, while any contribution from early car phones was negligible and undetectable in the data.
The Rise of Cell Phone-Related Accidents
The significant increase in cell phone-related accidents began much later, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as mobile phones became smaller, more affordable, and more ubiquitous. It's during this period that reliable data collection on cell phone use and its impact on driving safety began to emerge.
What about early car phones? Did they contribute at all?
While the number was likely very small and impossible to accurately quantify with existing data, it is plausible that some accidents could have been marginally influenced by the use of early car phones. Distraction is a major factor in accidents, and even the act of dialing or holding a bulky car phone could have minimally increased the risk. However, the impact was dwarfed by other, far more prevalent causes of accidents at the time.
