NEJM Perspective: 'It's Time for Us to Ask Patients About Driving and Distraction'

A perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine stresses the necessity of counseling patients about the dangers of texting and talking on cell phones while driving. The author concludes that by not educating patients about the risks, physicians "place in harm's way those we hope to heal."

The author shares her strategy: After asking patients about their habits, she tells them that "driving while distracted is roughly equivalent to driving drunk." She then asks whether they could limit their cell phone use in the car, and offers alternatives, including pulling over to make calls.

She says that "although no direct correlation can be made, we know that counseling patients about dangerous behaviors can have powerful consequences." As evidence, she points to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which says that talking to a patient for just 3 minutes about the dangers of smoking increases the odds that the patient will quit.