Cell phone use while driving worse than having blood alcohol level of 0.08 |
Loading ...Those complaining about inappropriate or downright dangerous cell phone use have just earned more ammunition thanks to a University of Utah study. The study also claims that the use of a cell phone instantly ages a driver to age 70 via ABC News:
In fact, motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunken drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding 0.08, Strayer and colleague Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology, found during research conducted in 2003.
The various radio news agencies are taking off on the aging part, but what about hands-free phones, do they make any difference?
And it doesn’t matter whether the phone is hand-held or handsfree, he said. Any activity requiring a driver to “actively be part of a conversation” likely will impair driving abilities, Strayer said.
We have our Verizon Wireless phone set to patch through the OnStar system. My wife is getting used to using it so that I don’t have to while driving. Though this system is still hands-free, I wonder if this is any safer?
It still requires you to be actively involved in a conversation. But the same applies to if you are carrying any passengers. If you are carrying more than one passenger does your age double for each one??
Comment by Brian Rosner — February 2, 2005 @ 2:56 pm PST
Some research was done on this issue at the MIT Media Lab in the late 90’s. We found that a conversation with another passenger in the car didn’t create quite the same problem as a phone conversation: passengers in the car naturally adjust the conversation’s pace to account for changes in driving conditions, while remote interlocutors are oblivious to critical moments where the driver’s attention needs to be focused on the road.
Comment by MRN — February 2, 2005 @ 3:16 pm PST
Wouldn’t a hands free phone be analgous to a conversation with a passenger though? I would think if those results would be similar to your results at MIT.
Comment by FranciscoIV — February 2, 2005 @ 4:25 pm PST
A hands-free phone is different from a passenger, in that if you are speaking with someone in the car with you, the passenger with whom you’re speaking can certainly adjust to the driving conditions with you. People who are conversing on the phone with someone while in the car tend to try to carry on the conversation as though they are not in the car. They try not to have awkward pauses - which wouldn’t be awkward if the other participant saw the situation.
Comment by Anthony — February 2, 2005 @ 4:43 pm PST
The comparison of a speaking on a cell phone and speaking to a passenger is a valid one. Just as an actual study was done in the case of cell phones one needs to be done with this case also. Once can’t simply assume armchair logic is valid. A study should be done. Unfortunately, if one is done it will probably be funded by mobile phone makers and service providers since it’s not as appealing a subject to do as one people are emotional about. Many bus companies forbid converstions with the driver for safety reasons. And while a passenger can adjust and even warn you about driving conditions, there can still be a tendency for eye contact and body language.
What I find just as distracting is when the passenger is on the cell phone. That conversation has as much of my focus as if I was on the phone myself.
Comment by Trogdor — February 2, 2005 @ 5:58 pm PST
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[…] or other non-interactive content and compared to hands-free cell phone use? In that post comments MRN writes: Some research was done on this issue at the MIT Media Lab in the late 90’s. We found that a […]
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