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Study Confirms Mobile Phones Distract Drivers

Posted by kdawson on from the hang-up-and-drive dept.

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."

11 of 439 comments (clear)

  1. This just in. by stei7766 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sleeping at the wheel found to correspond to an increase in accidents.

  2. talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by liraz · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is a ton of supporting evidence that talking on your mobile while driving is dangerous. The legal situation has more to do with convention and historical artifacts than anything of substance.

    In fact, not only is talking on your mobile more dangerous than talking to passengers, but talking on your mobile while driving can be as dangerous as driving intoxicated, at least according Mythbusters which did a cellphone vs drunk driving experiment on season 3 ("Killer Brace Position")

    The two hosts arranged an obstacle course into four parts: accelerating to 30mph and then stopping at a stop sign, parallel parking, seeing how long it would take to do 15mph through the whole course, and while going 30mph, being told to switch left, right or center lane. Each part was graded by an instructor.

    During a sober run of the course, both test drivers passed. However, during the cell phone run, Hyneman asked the drivers three questions in which they had to either think about the answer, repeat a sentence, figure out a verbal puzzle and list five things. Both drivers failed the obstacle course.

    --
    TurnKey Linux: if it can be easy, it should be easy
    1. Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by holophrastic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, Adam's conclusion is the most important. The phone is not as dangerous as the intoxication -- because you can put down the phone.

      So maybe drivers need to be taught how to refocus their attention when necessary. You know, instead of being told that tehy should expect everything to be perfect all the time with no distractions.

    2. Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by stei7766 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What I've always wondered is if the increased distraction a cell phone brings vs. a passenger has something to do with the brain activity of talking on a cell vs. in person.

      I'm no neurologist but I've noticed that while talking on a phone I have a tendency to imagine that person and their expressions, reactions, etc. Perhaps this results in the use of more brain "power" to use a cell than talk to a person?

      Anyone know of any studies using fMRI or the like which suggest such a thing?

    3. Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by stei7766 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Basically all of these "compared to passengers" arguments are null and void when it comes to children in the backseat. Should we ban driving with children in the car? They won't help with directions or know not to distract the driver.

      Nope. Just require them to ride in the trunk.

    4. Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      All of that drama could be avoided if you just said "hold on a sec, I'm merging" and then ignore anything that come safter that until your done then come back and say, "Sorry, I was merging"

      If people were that good at quickly shifting their attention to and from the phone as the need arises, cell phones wouldn't be that big a deal to begin with. An accident can happen while you're saying those six words.

      Anyway, the correct response, the one I use in those rare times that I would pick up the phone at all, is "I'm driving, I'll call you back."

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    5. Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by sexconker · · Score: 5, Funny

      I pray to god you don't work in the medical industry.

    6. Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving by lgw · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm still amazed at the idea that any phone call needs to be answered *now*, and not in 15 minutes. Whatever it is, 15 minutes won't matter that much. People have conditioned themselves to treat a phone call as a higher priority than their own survival. Society really did funtion just fine before cell phones!

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  3. Insurance by Samschnooks · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Several years ago (2001), I caused a crash. There were others in the car all taking. It distracted me - I cannot multi task at all. I can't even listen to the radio when I'm driving in heavy traffic. Anyway, when I talked to the insurance company the first thing they asked me was "Were you on a cell phone?" (I didn't own one.) And "Was the other driver on a cell phone?"

    I think the insurance companies have known this all along but never shared the data.

  4. Re:As bluetooth headset manufacturers rake it in.. by winkydink · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To make matters worse here in CA, only talking on the phone is illegal. Texting is perfectly ok - what were they thinking?

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  5. Results not supposed causes by markdavis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When driving on an interstate in good weather, using a headset, my talking on a phone is barely any distraction at all. However, when driving in bad weather or in city traffic, my using a phone in most situations is distracting to my driving, more so than most other things, which is why I won't use or answer it. The key is that I am aware of my *OWN* limitations.

    But for SOME people, using a phone is overly distracting under any circumstances. People are different, conditions are different there is no one golden "rule" that is going to make any sense or be fairly applied to everyone or even most everyone. People need to be trained to NOT distract themselves and pay attention to their attention spans.

    You can't legislate stupidity away. After phone use is made illegal in cars- what's next? GPS? Music? Food? Kids? Cold medication? Pets? Enforce laws about the RESULTS of poor behaviours, not the supposed causes. It doesn't matter why someone is weaving, following too closely, drifting, not using turn signals, not checking blind spots, etc... they should be ticketed just the same. Combined with education and public service messages, perhaps not everyone has to suffer for the lowest common denominator.