A new Quebec study confirms people who talk on their cellular phones while driving have a higher risk of road accidents.

The study done by researchers at the University of Montreal looked at 36,000 cellular phone users and non-users.

Researchers say the more drivers talk on the phone the greater the chance of an accident.

The vast majority of cell phone owners say they use their phones in the car. Researchers say these people are 38 per cent more likely to get into a road accident compared with non cellular phone users.

"You can drive and chew gum. That's no problem, because chewing gum is not a demanding activity for the brain," says Dr. Urs Maag of the Transportation Safety Laboratory at the University of Montreal. "But having a complicated telephone conversation is (a demanding activity for the brain) - or can be - depending on how stressful the conversation is."

Maag is reluctant to say there's a direct cause and effect relationship between talking on the phone and driving accidents. He says the study is based on circumstantial information which shows a strong association between the two.

Claude Dussault, chief of Highway Safety and Research at Quebec's automobile insurance board, says it's too soon to follow the lead of some European countries and call for an all-out ban on cellular phones in cars.

"We know it's riskier to use a cellular phone compared to listening, or tuning, the radio station, or using the CD player for instance," says Dussault. "But it's not a danger like alcohol. We have to be clear about that. It's not even close to alcohol." Dussault says the highway officials will study the report.

To date in Quebec, there have been three coroners' reports directly linking road fatalities to cell phone use.