Lawsuit Demands Cell Phone, Traffic Fatality Stats

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is unlawfully withholding records that detail the relationship between driver cell phone use and traffic fatalities, Public Citizen claimed late Monday in a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The nonprofit Center for Auto Safety first requested the documents in March but NHTSA attorneys rejected the request, saying the records were exempt from disclosure. Public Citizen's complaint asks the court to order NHTSA to release the records. The analysis stems from a 2003 letter from then-Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta urging governors to take action against hand-held and hands-free cell phones. The Center for Auto Safety claims the letter was never sent and the study on which it was based was buried.