Study Confirms Mobile Phones Distract Drivers 439
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."
Cell Phone law dangerous. (Score:1, Insightful)
I have noticed first less people on their cell phones. However I have also noticed that when people are driving and using there cell phones they are even worse then before. I think that the people who are talking on the phone are now nervous about being caught talking on the phone. Which makes them even worse then distracted drivers because they are now distracted and stressed out.
As bluetooth headset manufacturers rake it in... (Score:5, Insightful)
I live in California, where it now looks like an army of cyborgs has invaded. Everyone walks around with one of those damn bluetooth headsets on since it became law to use a hands-free device while driving. Wouldn't you think that some RESEARCH and TESTING had taken place before enacting this law?
I sure wish I was in the bluetooth headset business.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (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.
Re:As bluetooth headset manufacturers rake it in.. (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?
Cost of Convenience? (Score:5, Insightful)
How dangerous do cell phones have to be in order to be outlawed for drivers? If they result in 3 accidents and 1 death per year per 100,000 drivers, is that acceptable risk? What if the number of deaths goes up to 10, or 100?
Before you scoff, consider that speed limits are set in this manner. Raising limits adds convenience at the cost of higher rates of accidents and deaths.
However, I am inclined to view the convenience of cell phones much more harshly, because cell phone use is not an essential part of the driving process. If you want the privilege of using public roads and putting others at risk, you should take the responsibility of devoting your full attention to driving well. I would be glad to see cell phones outlawed on the road entirely.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
So do (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Solution: driving w/ phone = lose your license (Score:3, Insightful)
Because draconian punishments work so well to prevent all these other crimes.
Results not supposed causes (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.
The real explanation (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Passengers generally know it is in their interest not to distract the driver. The person on the other end of the phone conversation is not at risk so they talk about anything at all.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a load of dung (Score:4, Insightful)
If there's a blizzard out, and you do not have to drive, then you shouldn't. If you do have to drive, well, it's not like you can make it stop snowing, which is why that's legal. Hopefully enough other people were able to stay home that it's safe.
There is no reason why you must talk on a cell phone while driving. If the call is that important that you can't miss it, pull over. If your time is so valuable that you can neither skip the call nor stop driving, then you need to hire a driver. Can't afford a driver? Then your time isn't that valuable. Pull over or call them back.
Hands-free vs hands-on has nothing to do with your available limbs, and everything to do with using those limbs for a completely separate task. I drive a manual, shifting is simply part of the task of driving that I'm focusing on, not a distraction. Fiddling with a cell phone is a distraction, a completely orthogonal task of coordination. It's the difference between a drummer using all their limbs to perform, and using 3 of their limbs to perform and one to juggle. Not that hands-free headsets have been shown to substantially reduce the risk posed by driving while on the phone, because you're already more than distracted enough to cause problems just by talking to someone who isn't present.
Also, it's already been established that talking on a cell phone while driving is more dangerous than driving while at a 0.08% BAC, the legal limit. Which is why you shouldn't do it, no matter how sober or how good a driver you incorrectly think you are. Even if both a 0.08% BAC or talking on a cell phone, by themselves, aren't as dangerous as driving in a blizzard.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
I like to think of it as the "ability to be rude" factor.
If a passenger is in the car, it is very acceptable socially to shout "SHUT UP!" or "BE QUIET!" during periods of the drive where higher concentration is required (e.g., merging, changing lanes), especially if the passenger(s) don't automatically realize it and shut up themselves. Passengers realize it's for their safety, and tend to obey. Ignoring people during this time is also acceptable. (Also, good passengers realize it might be dangerous to distract the driver, and automatically pause their conversation.)
Replace the passenger with a cellphone, and it's not so nice to say these things to the person on the other end. If it's your significant other, or boss, I'm sure you can't scream at them to be quiet while you're trying to merge onto the freeway. Or you can try, but then you'll spend the next few minutes explaining. It probably has something to do with the social expectation that the person on the other end expects your full attention, which you cannot give, and thus try to make do.
Handsfree laws do help a tiny bit, by at least ensuring you can have two hands on the wheel (always important in case you need to swerve or other sudden maneuver), and maybe, just maybe, if you act stupidly in traffic, the honking will be noticed by the guy on the other end, who will have the politeness to call back later.
And yes, changing radio stations, etc are also dangerous, except they take less time to perform (and if the car UI is done properly, could be done without having to look at the radio - just push, if it isn't what you want, repeat). Of course, too many accidents are the result of "I only looked away for a second!", too. And yes, I also consider messing around with your iPod to be equally bad since it takes far too long to do adjust if you're trying to choose a playlist or something.
No scientific studies nor citations, just stating my belief that no one wants to be rude to the person at the other end of the line.
Re:Cost of Convenience? (Score:3, Insightful)
And this would be different from cell phones how?
The existing laws cover the problem. If you want to do something, enforce them better.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:5, Insightful)
The phone is not as dangerous as the intoxication -- because you can put down the phone.
I'm not sure that's entirely true.
People don't believe they are impaired when driving while talking on a cell phone. "Sure, some people may have a problem," they'll say. "But not me. I'm a great driver. I've never had an accident and I use my cell phone all the time."
I've heard similar arguments from people talking about how they have no problems driving while legally impaired (say, 0.08 BAC). And the only thing that keeps them from driving while impaired in the threat of losing their license or jail time.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (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."
Exactly why ther should be no (Score:5, Insightful)
"using cell phones while driving" laws.
If someone is driving recklessly, give them a ticket for driving recklessly.
I've seen people sue cell phones, read a paper, put on make up, shave and get a hummer while driving. DO we need an explicit law against each on of those?
No, just use reckless driving laws to cite them.
No excuse me, I have to bring up porn and masterbate while I drive home... Since there is no law, what's the harm?
Re:Solution: driving w/ phone = lose your license (Score:3, Insightful)
That's the whole reason pulling licenses does work, some of the time. In essence, it is a fine. It causes people to expend more effort getting around (leaning on friends, family, coworkers, etc). Most people I know who have had their licenses suspended have been in that position from DWI... and most of the people who gave them rides made not ever driving drunk again (and for a couple people, not ever *drinking* again) a condition for giving them lifts to work/school/etc.
Yes, some people will instead drive unlicensed and uninsured. But some people will get the point, and not repeat their offense. License suspension can be a very effective way of rehabilitating problem drivers... and it makes sense for the punishment to fit the crime.
If, as you seem to wish (and I do too, but for different reasons), mass transit were useful in most areas, then suspending licenses would not have any impact, since it would not be an inconvenience to the unlicensed person.
Hopefully someday people will learn that allowing people to put others at risk through behavior of questionable benefit is a stupid idea. It is difficult for a police officer to determine whether a potentially distracted driver is actually driving carelesslyhether ... one would need, usually, some type of incident to determine wthe driver's reaction is appropriate. It is not difficult to ascertain whether someone is using a cell phone, which has been proven to be distracting.
I don't care if people talk on the phone while driving. What I do care about is that distracted people cause accidents, and talking on the cell phone is a distraction. Remove the distraction == fewer accidents.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
Do you drive. At all? Every day I see some ass on the road, male and female alike, yakking on the phone while:
and so on.
No, the large majority of fellow humans you share the road with do NOT pay attention and WON'T make a determination about when they have to.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
Most people on the road, sadly.
If there's a collision, they'll typically continue to talk with the person on the other end of the phone for several minutes, before getting out and yelling at the other driver.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would you ever pick up the phone to say that? If you are not going ot talk to the person, let them get the voice mail.
Because the call might be important enough that I would pull over and talk to them. I answer the phone, I find out, and either use Correct Response #1 and hang up, or use Correct Response #2 and pull over. If I have no reason to expect an important call, I probably don't answer at all.
The Correct Response is never to announce your intention to pay attention to driving for a few seconds, then resume talking when the need for attention to driving diminishes. The whole point is that talking distracts you so you don't notice these situations fast enough to react, much less politely inform the person you are talking to.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
It could even be more easily avoid by not answering the phone in the first place, or saying "I'm driving, I'll call you back, bye". Just how many calls are really that important that you absolutely must take them right now?
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
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")
Karma be damned. Mythbusters is entertainment NOT science and should not be cited by intelligent people to back up their discussions. The mythbusters methods are less than scientific and are more about ensuring ratings than drawing valid conclusions. I don't think I've seen one Mythbusters show where there wasn't an annoying flaw in their experiment. They rarely have a control, and almost always resort to leaping to a general conclusion based on a tiny sample size or very specific case.
That said, cell phone use while driving is dangerous, but comparing it to intoxication isn't useful.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, 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.
While technically this is correct, due to numbers and relative odds of people driving with cell phones vs. driving intoxicated, the theory is completely flawed. Somehow I seriously doubt the sheer numbers of 15 - 18 year olds with very little driving experience cruising around with a cell phone pinned to their ears (or thumbs) comes even close to those driving intoxicated.
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.
Ah, "when necessary"? You're driving 2 tons of steel traveling 40MPH while making 100+ decisions every 60 seconds. That's just while you're paying attention to driving. Regardless of how good a driver you think you are, the 16-year old driving next to you with 17 days of driving experience making a left turn while texting a short story is not.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
> Professional drivers frequently chat on the radio, yet remain safer than ordinary drivers. Some people just have their priorities straight.
Yes, for example highway patrols; the same applies for air pilots. But most of the time, that radio chat is about something very related with the driving activity (or in a plane, for example, ground control guiding the landing in a cloudy sky) so it actually improves attention.
Cell phone calls mostly are a totally different thing... you get a call from a client wanting support or wanting to close a deal... you automatically start doing numbers.... and crash!
just say "stand by" (Score:5, Insightful)
Spot on. Pilots are told by instructors that you "don't drop the airplane to fly the microphone". It is entirely proper to say "stand by" to a controller when you're busy with an aircraft control task.
If only driving instructors taught the same thing ...
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:2, Insightful)
It is possible to talk on a cellphone and pay attention to the road.
Unfortunately, the evidence of this article, the Mythbusters show, and other studies, claim that the attention of normal human beings is greatly impaired.
Perhaps yours is not. Perhaps mine is not. Perhaps we're not normal. =P
Re:Exactly why ther should be no (Score:3, Insightful)
By that reasoning we don't need drunk driving laws; we can just bust them for reckless driving.
You can't bust someone for reckless driving unless you observe them making dangerous decisions, at which point it may be too late. Sure, you'll catch the really stupid people weaving back and forth as they talk with a reckless driving law. But that's not the point. The point is the people who aren't weaving around, but the ones just driving down a lane, seemingly fine. But someone suddenly stops or swerves and the two second gap isn't long enough to compensate for the additional latency of the driver's brain switching for background driving mode to focused driving mode. Bam, an accident. Oooh, great, you can hit them with reckless driving. That will be a great consolation to the person dealing with insurance to get his car repaired.
Driving in inherently dangerous. There are costs to society as a whole because of dangerous driving. So we regulate it. Some optional activities are dangerous enough that we blanket ban them. We ban driving drunk. Society isn't infringing on some inalienable right to talk on the phone while you drive.
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
>I haven't quite figured out how to say that to my boss yet.
How about answering his next question "why were you late?" with, I had to pull over and let you finish talking on the phone... it's illegal you know."
Same problem as over speeding (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:talking on mobile as dangerous as drunk driving (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, of course. But none of them truly know for themselves whether they are correct or not. And it only takes one idiot to run me over on the crosswalk.
Actually, I see this kind of attitude on /. all the time in comments on the driving-related stories. I often point out that a speed limit, whether you perceive it it as "unreasonable" or not, is there for some reason, and you shouldn't second-guess whether it is safe to break it or not (in part because you as a driver do not really know if you truly can drive safely at a higher speed, or just think that you can). A typical response is "well, you're just slow / can't drive so stay away from the roads, but me, I can drive fast and safe easily". It would be funny if such delusions did not underscore someone's death on the road every now and then. I've seen a woman hit and very badly maimed on the crosswalk by a speeding driver right in front of me, and it's something I'll probably keep remembering for the rest of my life, both when walking and when driving.