A 2001 study by University of Utah researchers concluded that state laws banning handheld cell phones and requiring hands-free headsets won't transform the nation's 117 million cell phone users into good drivers. In fact, the study found that the simple act of having a cell phone conversation, hands free or not, was enough to disrupt driving skills.
An updated study, published in the February-March 2003 National Safety Council's Injury Insights journal, suggests that cell phone conversations may interfere with the ability to react to sudden events, such as a pedestrian darting into traffic or a car running a red light. Moreover, in high density traffic situations, cell phone usage may contribute to traffic congestion.
| State laws prohibiting handheld cell phones but allowing headsets will not accomplish the goal of reducing driver distraction or auto accidents |
The new study sought to analzye why drivers who use hands-free cell phone headsets are less attentive to traffic signals compared to drivers who converse with passengers or who listen to the radio or a book on tape. Four separate experiments, involving 110 students, found that drivers who were conversing on cell phones needed more time to react to changing traffic patterns and were less able to recall roadside images. They took longer to brake for slowing traffic and were slower to accelarate again. They also tended to compensate by increasing the distance between themselves and the cars ahead of them.
The researchers concluded that legislative initiatives to restrict hand-held devices but permit hands-free devices "are not likely to eliminate problems associated with using cell phones while driving because these problems are attributed in large part to the distracting effects of the phone conversations themselves."
New York passed a law effective Nov. 1, 2001, that prohibits drivers from talking on handheld cell phones, but allows hands-free headsets. At least 40 other states are considering similar moves.
A Gallup Organization survey of 4,010 drivers, released in March 2003, found that about one-third (34%) of drivers who use a cell phone while driving use a hands-free model with speakerphone or head phones. Approximately one in twenty drivers who use a cell phone (hand held or hands free) attributed a crash they've had in the past five years to cell phone use.
|
