According to a new study, the bans on the use of hand-held cellular telephones while driving in New York, Connecticut, California and the District of Columbia have had no impact on accident rates.

Researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety compared the accident data of the two years before and the two years after the ban in each state and found that car crashes had decreased slightly, but that accidents in states with no law banning the use of cell phones declined at the same modest rate, according to AOL Autos.

“Whatever the reason, the key finding is that crashes aren’t going down where hand-held phone use has been banned,” said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute. “This finding doesn’t augur well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving.”

The Institute’s spokeswoman Anne Flemming believes that the lack of any significant change in the number of accidents may be due to the distracting nature of hands-free devices and the deficiency of law enforcement in implementing the ban.

Meanwhile, last week the Department of Transportation prohibited operators of trucks and buses from using handheld devices to send text messages while behind the wheel.

Owners of used cars in New Jersey may feel a bit safer on the roadways following the announcement of a new federal law. On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation declared that operators of trucks and buses driving on interstate roadways are now banned from using handheld devices to send text messages while behind the wheel.

The ban, which will go into effect immediately, was supported by officials of the trucking and busing industries. Drivers of commercial vehicles caught texting will now be subject to fines in excess of $2,000.

“We said the federal government would do everything in its power to send a clear message that texting, talking and driving are potentially lethal activities with very serious consequences,” said U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood.

“Today we are sending a strong message. We don’t merely expect you to share the road responsibly with other travelers – we will require you to do so,” he added.

The announcement of the new law was due in part to a recent Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study that found that truckers are 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident while texting.

Owners of used cars in New York and New Jersey may want to think twice before conducting an important business call while driving. A new study has found that operating a vehicle can significantly impair one’s ability to speak and comprehend language.

Researchers at the University of Illinois tested participants’ ability to listen to and retell stories that they had never heard before as a passenger and as a driver. The study found that a participant’s ability to recall information declined significantly if he or she was also driving during the exercise.

The results suggest that a driver remembers 20 percent less of what is told to them while behind the wheel compared to times when they are simply sitting still. Researchers also found that drivers were least accurate in retelling stories that were communicated to them while navigating through intersections or demanding traffic conditions.

“This study shows that various aspects of language go to hell when you’re driving,” said psychology professor Art Kramer, who collaborated on the study.

Although older subjects performed more poorly on the control test than their younger peers, their ability to retain information while driving worsened at the same rate.

For owners of used cars in New Jersey, replacing your vehicle’s air filter is one of the more simple tasks involved in routine car maintenance. When to replace it, however, is a slightly more complicated issue.

It is difficult to determine when to replace an air filter by elapsed time or mileage because it is totally dependent on the driving conditions. A filter can last up to 20,000 miles if the car is driven mostly on highways, but may only last for two months if the vehicle is driven on dirt or gravel roads, according to Yahoo Autos.

Visible dirt on the surface of an air filter is not a strong indicator that it needs to be replaced, CarJunky.com reports. Try putting the filter up to a 100-watt bulb and if light can pass through at least half it, the filter is suitable for continued use.

However, the light test will not work on extended-life factory filters. If your vehicle contains one of those, replace it at the mileage interval specified by the manufacturer.

Keep in mind that a slightly dirty filter actually cleans more efficiently than a brand new one.

Prospective owners of used cars in New Jersey beware – distracted and unsafe drivers are all over the road. What they are looking at may actually surprise you.

The University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center recently unveiled the top 10 driver distractions and found that cell phone use only accounts for 1.4 percent of the study.

The leading distraction for motorists is becoming obsessed things outside of the car, such as accidents, billboards or scenery. Many car crashes also occur when drivers take their eyes off of the road to adjust the radio, which is the second most frequent distraction in the survey.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that driver inattention is a contributing factor in over 50 percent of all car crashes.

Authors of the study suggest that drivers pull off the road if they begin to daydream or if they need to use a cell phone for an extended conversation. Researchers also recommend that you don’t drive when you are agitated or tired.

Remember, limiting distractions is the first step toward safer travel.