Cellphone talkers as bad as drunk drivers: study

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who talk on cellphones while driving, even using "hands-free" devices, are as impaired as drunk drivers, researchers said on Thursday.

"If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving," said Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah who worked on the study.

The researchers used a driving simulation device for their study, published in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

They studied 40 volunteers who used a driving simulator four times -- while undistracted, using a handheld cell phone, using a hands-free cell phone and while intoxicated to a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level -- the average legal level of impairment in the United States -- after drinking vodka and orange juice.

Three study participants rear-ended the simulated car in front of them. All were talking on cellphones and none was drunk, the researchers said.

Motorists who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly more slowly, were 9 percent slower to hit the brakes, and varied their speed more than undistracted drivers.

Drivers with an 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and telephone users, yet more aggressively.

"Driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as or maybe worse than driving drunk," said Drews, who said alcohol was involved in 40 percent of the 42,000 annual U.S. traffic fatalities.

Just like many people who have been drinking, the cellphone users did not believe themselves to be affected, the researchers found.

[jen&darcy 0]

In some cities here in Ohio, it is illegal to be on your cell phone. Whether people adhere to it is a different story. I do find it annoying and am blurting out in my car, 'get off your cell phone so you can drive'.

[Fuzzness 2]

when driving through Atlanta it seems that everyone is talking on the cell phone and not paying attention to the road. we even saw a man on the cell phone driving a car with a US Govt tag

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It should be made generally illegal to use a cell-phone while driving - anything that takes your attention off the road is not a good idea.

Extreme example - there was a truck driver in the UK who ran over and killed while texting on his phone. If that wasn't bad enough - when the case got to court, it turned out that after he'd hit the person, before even got out of his cab, he sent another text message saying "Oh ######, I hit someone". Crazy...

IMO phone use while driving needs to become as stigmatised and reviled as 'drink-driving' has become, with comparable sentences for offenders.

[ChristinaM 0]

Are we also going to outlaw changing a CD, retuning the radio or talking to a passenger whilst driving? Heck, maybe we should just outlaw driving - it's too dangerous....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Are we also going to outlaw changing a CD, retuning the radio or talking to a passenger whilst driving? Heck, maybe we should just outlaw driving - it's too dangerous....

Common sense should prevail - if your attention is focussed entirely on a telephone call (which on average takes several minutes) as opposed to the 5-10 seconds that it takes to change a CD, if you have an accident you are responsible for that. But sure anything that distracts your attention from driving the vehicle (including lack of sleep) is (in most cases) a jailable offence.

Its simple really - if talking on a phone really doesn't affect people's driving in a negative way then why not have all new drivers take their behind the wheel test and do the theory over the phone? They should have no problem right?

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

Are we also going to outlaw changing a CD, retuning the radio or talking to a passenger whilst driving? Heck, maybe we should just outlaw driving - it's too dangerous....

Common sense should prevail - if your attention is focussed entirely on a telephone call (which on average takes several minutes) as opposed to the 5-10 seconds that it takes to change a CD, if you have an accident you are responsible for that. But sure anything that distracts your attention from driving the vehicle (including lack of sleep) is (in most cases) a jailable offence.

Its simple really - if talking on a phone really doesn't affect people's driving in a negative way then why not have all new drivers take their behind the wheel test and do the theory over the phone? They should have no problem right?

my answer - stay off the phone unless you are on cruise control, not in traffic (like a traffic jam, stop and go traffic), and the weather is good. i won't place a call unless that is the case.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Are we also going to outlaw changing a CD, retuning the radio or talking to a passenger whilst driving? Heck, maybe we should just outlaw driving - it's too dangerous....

cars kill more people than guns in the USA. Humans are just a danger... period.

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

Are we also going to outlaw changing a CD, retuning the radio or talking to a passenger whilst driving? Heck, maybe we should just outlaw driving - it's too dangerous....

cars kill more people than guns in the USA. Humans are just a danger... period.

and doctors kill more people than guns

[ChristinaM 0]

I don't disagree that it's less than ideal for people to be talking on a cell phone whilst driving. I don't understand why talking using a hands-free kit is any worse than talking to a passenger though.

Tiredness is one of the main killers on the motorways. Do we propose a law that says "You can only drive on the interstate if you've had 8 hours of sleep or more in the last 24 hours"?

You also have to think about circumstances - it's different to be driving in heavy traffic in the rain of an evening on a cell phone than it is on an empty road in good weather conditions during the day. One is a lot safer than the other.

I just think that whilst there are things that it's sensible to legislate against, you can't legislate in place of common sense. Personal responsibility.

[I'm Gone 60]

Amen, about once a day a get behind some bonehead talking on the phone on the xpressway going 45 MPH in a 65 zone or are almost rammed because they are not paying attention to their driving because they are talking on the phone.

Anything that takes your eyes off the road or mind off your driving is not a good idea, but most people can't carry on a phone conversation and paying attention to their driving. Hell some people shouldn't even pick their nose when driving. LOL Big difference in talking on the phone and changing the station on the radio or putting in a CD.

[LaL 418]

I saw the funniest bumper sticker the other day :

It's a CAR, not a PHONE BOOTH!

that said, I do use my phone for quick, im on my way calls, and important calls, however after being hit twice in the past few years by people on their cell phones, I would have to say my stance on this is a bit biased, and i think for good reason.

disclaimer - i also have to add that i have had 4 accidents total with that cursed car (none my fault) and 2 were NOT on their cell phones *shrug*

[Nessa 23]

It's against the law driving while talking on the phone here in Brazil. But you don't go to prison, you get a ticket if a guard happens to see you. I'm the type of person that if I really need to answer the phone I stop the car and then answer, like if it's for work or something. Otherwise cell phones have caller ID, I just call them back after I'm done driving. It's very dangerous to drive while on the phone, you're supposed to have both your hand free, even if you're an amazing driver you never know when an accident might happen. It should be forbidden all over the world, it is dangerous.

[Fandango 1,439]

clmarsh raises some good points.

I think there's nothing wrong with using a voice-dialed phone with a hands free kit. I use it all the time.

I rememeber when I was in England, I read a story in the papers that a woman was given a ticket for driving whilst eating an apple....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Tiredness is one of the main killers on the motorways. Do we propose a law that says "You can only drive on the interstate if you've had 8 hours of sleep or more in the last 24 hours"?

I might be mistaken but aren't there already laws of that nature in place for truck drivers?

Studies have been done on how talking on the phone distracts people's driving - hands free kits are an improvement but still not ideal, and while someone making a quick call to get their bank balance might still drive competantly I don't think you can say the same for someone having a blazing row with their SO over the phone.

Up until a year or so ago it was still legal to drink and drive in Montana - needless to say that state had some of the worst statistics for RTA fatalities. So personal responsibility is all well and good - but if you kill someone as a result of being distracted there must be some consequences.

Drivers have a responsibility to others around them - that's ultimately why you have licensing standards.

Incidentally my wife's parents were almost killed last year (the crash wrote off my wife's car) by a driver in an SUV, who ran a red light while talking on the phone and with a yip-yap dog on the front seat. That's not an accident - that's negligence.

Edited June 30, 2006 by Fishdude