PEACH STATE POLL, June 2002
Public Opinion in Georgia Regarding the Use of Cell Phones
A recent Peach State Poll finds that a majority of Georgians favor making it illegal to use
a hand-held cell phone while driving in this state. Sixty-three percent of those polled
believe that the use of hand-held phones while driving should be illegal, but this
sentiment does not extend to the use of hands-free cellular phones; about three out of four
respondents (77 percent) believe that the use of hands-free phones while driving should
remain legal.
Do you think it should be legal or illegal to use a {hand-
held/hands-free} cellular telephone while driving a car?
31%
63%
77%
19%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Legal
Illegal
Hand-held
Hands-free
Sixty-five percent of all respondents to our summer poll report using a cell phone, and 78
percent of the cell phone users report using the cell phone while driving at least
occasionally; thus, 51 percent of all respondents use a cell phone while driving. Not
surprisingly, those who use a cell phone while driving most often are less likely to
support making the practice illegal. In fact, a majority (57 percent) of those who use their
cell phones while driving every day say the use of hand-held phones should remain legal.
What is surprising, however, is that 40 percent of those who report using a hand-held cell
phone while driving on a daily basis still favor making it illegal. Eighty-five percent of
cell phone users who say they never use a hand-held phone while driving favor making
the practice illegal.
PEACH STATE POLL – June 2002
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How often do you use your cell phone while driving a car?
31%
12%
31%
27%
55%
12%
23%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Every day
Every other day
One or two times a
week
Less than once a
week
Hand-held phone (N=268)
Hands-free phone (N=109)
Women are more likely than men to believe that the use of hand-held cell phones while
driving should be made illegal (67 percent compared with 59 percent), nonwhites are
more like