The California car accident attorneys at Bisnar | Chase have represented numerous car crash victims who are also the victims of distracted drivers--motorists who were talking on the cell phone or texting when they were driving. The New York Times this week came out with a report that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decided not to make public, hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by driver because they did not want to rile up Congress.

The results of this research performed six years ago at the federal agency's request is being made public for the first time after two consumer advocacy groups--the Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen--filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against NHTSA demanding the documents. What's their explanation for withholding such key safety data from the American public? According to the former head of the safety agency, he was told to withhold the information to avoid "antagonizing members of the Congress" who had warned the federal agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data, but not to lobby states.

In my opinion, this failure on the part of the NHTSA to make this significant body of information public, was and is a cover-up. Distracted driving is a problem as bad as drunk driving in this country. It's appalling that such a significant problem was covered up by federal government officials. I commend the consumer groups for their effort to get this important data and information out to the public. Here's a small part of the information that officials attempted to sweep under the rug. According to highway safety researchers, cell phone use by drivers in the United States caused about 955 deaths and 240,000 accidents in 2002 alone.

Another important detail the research offers is that hands-free devices may not help reduce these car accidents caused by distracted drivers. That's because, it's not the act of holding the phone, but the conversation that takes drivers' focus off the road, the study finds. Motorists talking on a phone are four times as likely to crash as other drivers and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol content.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident because of someone else's negligence--specifically distracted driving--it would be in your best interest to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer who can hold the negligent parties accountable and secure fair compensation for the victims.