Saturday, August 28, 2004
Cell Phone Drivers More Dangerous than Drunk Drivers!
The Volokh Conspiracy just posted about a new paper called A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver:
Abstract:Wow, I knew it was a silly and dangerous thing to do but I never thought it approached the level of driving drunk. I really don't talk on the phone very much while I'm driving and I'll be talking even less now.
We used a high-fidelity driving simulator to compare the performance of cell-phone drivers with drivers who were legally intoxicated from ethanol. When drivers were conversing on either a hand-held or hands-free cell-phone, their braking reactions were delayed and they were involved in more traffic accidents than when they were not conversing on the cell phone. By contrast, when drivers were legally intoxicated they exhibited a more aggressive driving style, following closer to the vehicle immediately in front of them and applying more force while braking. When controlling for driving conditions and time on task, cell-phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers. The results have implications for legislation addressing driver distraction caused by cell phone conversations.
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