MOBILE phone companies are attempting to block a new law which would ban drivers from using earpieces and headsets linked to their mobiles.

The companies stand to lose hundreds of millions of pounds from the Government’s proposal to ban all hands-free devices except for kits permanently wired into vehicles.

Vodafone claimed yesterday that all hands-free devices were safe and that banning them would cause unnecessary inconvenience to drivers.

An American study, however, underlined the risks of using a mobile phone at the wheel, saying that drivers talking on mobiles caused 2,600 deaths and 570,000 injuries a year. Harvard University’s Centre for Risk Analysis said that using a hands-free device could be just as dangerous as holding a phone to the ear.

Joshua Cohen, the scientist who led the study, said: “The research suggests that the level of distraction is similar when using an earpiece or a headset even though the driver is not holding the phone.” He said that the major cause of the distraction was holding a conversation with someone outside the vehicle, not having one hand off the wheel.

The Government wants to tighten the law against using handheld mobiles while driving by making it a specific offence. More controversially, ministers also intend to ban drivers from using earphones, microphones and headsets which are either linked to the phone by a wire or use “bluetooth” wireless technology.

The Government’s consultation paper said: “Even though they can be used ‘hands-free’ to some extent, these still require the user to hold the phone in order to press buttons or to read a message on the phone’s screen.”

Mobile phone companies, which sell and promote hands-free devices, are lobbying ministers to drop this proposal.

In its submission to the Government, Vodafone said that it had serious concerns with the scope of the proposed legislation. It said: “The definition of hands-free is unnecessarily restrictive and inconsistent. Vodafone therefore urges the Government to ‘keep it simple’ by focusing on the offence of using a handheld mobile while driving.”

T-Mobile said that it opposed any new regulations and believed that it should be left up to the driver to act safely. A spokesman said: “Legislation is not the right answer. What would be next? Smoking or eating while driving?” Orange said that the proposed legislation could have a huge impact on future data services if it was not carefully drafted. O2 said that despite the Government’s proposed ban on earpieces it would still continue to advise motorists to use them.

Road safety campaigners said that the mobile companies were making ill-founded claims influenced by commercial interest rather than road safety. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: “Encouraging people to use hands-free phones while driving is putting people’s lives at risk. People are sucked into the conversation rather than concentrating on driving.”

A 1997 study of Canadian drivers who agreed to have their mobile phone records scrutinised found that the risk of an accident was four times greater while a driver was using the phone.

A study last year by the US National Safety Council found drivers using hands-free and handheld phones were equally likely to fail to spot traffic signals. Listening to the radio or music did not affect drivers’ performance.