Laws restricting cell phone use while driving appear to be for anyone else but teenagers although they were specially intended for them, a new report by an insurance industry group revealed. According to governmental estimates, auto crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, who are involved in three times as many fatal accidents as all other drivers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report discovered that, some five months after the North Carolina law banning cell phones use while driving went into effect in November 2006, nearly 12 percent of teen drivers were observed using cell phones compared to 11 percent observed prior to the ban. In fact, teenagers completely disregarded the law, continuing talking on the phone, thus endangering their own lives and the others'.

What exactly is the reason behind these results? Seventy-one percent of teens and 60 percent of parents involved in the study reported that enforcement of the laws were rare or nonexistent.

Laws forbidding teenagers using cell phones while driving were adopted by 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Automobile Association. Moreover, six states and the District forbid all drivers from using hand-held cell phone.

According to a University of Utah study, using cell phones can slow down traffic.The study found the drivers were distracted by the phone conversation and made fewer lane changes, and drove 2 to 3 percent more slowly in medium and highly congested traffic. Of course, the study did not look at the serious repercussions of using cell phones in traffic like deadly car crashes. Moreover, the study said hands-free phones are as dangerous as the hand-held phones, as they diminish drivers’ skills and attention.

What’s there to be done? Maybe teenagers should also take classes on risks they are exposing themselves while combining talking on cell phones with driving besides lessons teaching them how to drive.