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Study Confirms Mobile Phones Distract Drivers
An anonymous reader notes a Reuters report of a study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, confirming that Mobile phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger, causing drivers to follow too closely and miss exits. California's ban on using a handheld cell phone while driving, which went into effect last summer, is looking less than fully effective. A handful of other states have instituted similar bans, but none has forbidden driving while talking on a cell phone at all. "Using a hands-free device does not make things better and the researchers believe they know why — passengers act as a second set of eyes, shutting up or sometimes even helping when they see the driver needs to make a maneuver."
Put both your hands on the steering wheel. If you hit a chuckhole, the wheel is likely to bounce out of your grip and you're going to swerve and hit something or someone. You are endangering lives.
Regardless of your vehicle, you should keep both hands on the wheel unless you're operating another control.
This is not about staying below some imaginary threshold level of danger. This is about staying as safe as possible regardless of circumstances. If you are forced to drive in a blizzard, then that is dangerous. But if you drive with non-zero blood alcohol or a phone in your hand then that is unnecessarily dangerous. You are endangering lives.
qntm.org
They're morons looking for ratings.
They always fail at the most basic of scientific principles and methodology. They have zero understanding of physics. They have the worst dialog ever ("Oh hey guys, look at me! I'm wearing a baseball outfit!" "OMG, cool! But why?" "We're doing baseball myths!" "I LOVE baseball!" "YEAH!"), and half of their "myths" are busted/confirmed by "researchers" (interns surfing the web for news articles) long before Adam puts his flamboyant face in front of the camera.
The whole show is just an excuse to blow things up and have Adam prance around like a moron.
Actually, the "increased distraction" likely comes from the neo-Luddite hatred of new technology combined with the common practice of funding "studies" that seem to always give the results that the funder wants.
That wouldn't avoid the drama at all. The problem isn't that cell phones and driving are dangerous. The problem is that the neo-Luddites are in too large of numbers. Shitty drivers existed before cell phones, and they will exist whether we ban cell phones or not. Heck, just read the comments right here on slashdot anytime that cell phones come up. You don't just get the crazy "talking on a cell phones are more dangerous than drunk driving" kooks, but you get the complaints about cell phones on buses, or even in grociery stores. I've seen people get angry and offended just by seeing someone in public wearing a bluetooth ear piece. Go into any doctors office, and they have increadibly rude signs telling you not to use your cell phones. I've seen cube farms filled with a 100 phones where the company bans having a cell phone turned on because the phone ringing is "distracting".
So, no, the drama won't be avoided, because the drama isn't about driving safety. It is about trying to find a way to banish the evil technology. It is just a variant on the "think of the children" argument.