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Dal News Staff - July 13, 2009
A new study in the National Safety Council’s Journal of Safety Research concludes there is little difference between the driving safety risk of hands-free versus handheld cell phones.
The study, by Dalhousie PhD student Yoko Ishigami and Professor Raymond Klein, confirms that any type of cell phone use detracts from the brain’s ability to focus on safe driving. Several other studies also support the claim that hands-free phones and handheld phones are equally dangerous.
Cell phone use behind the wheel is a growing problem. Each year, in the United States an estimated 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths are caused by a distracted driver on a cell phone. In January, the National Safety Council in the U.S. became the first national organization to call for a total ban on cell phones.
In this study, researchers found no distinction between the safety risk of hands-free phones and handheld phones. Results show both types of phones:
- Cause more accidents and driving errors;
- Impair reaction times;
- Slow down overall vehicle speeds.
While vehicle speed tends to decline for drivers using any type of cell phones, those with handheld phones generally show the most decline. The researchers suggest, “Slowing down can be a compensatory behavior to maintain safety in the face of factors challenging it. Drivers may have slowed down more when talking on a hands-held phone because they were more aware of the mental and physical load imposed on them.”
LINK: Is a hands-free phone safer than a handheld phone? in the Journal of Safety Research.
DALNEWS STORY: Is a hands-free phone safer?
Readers Say
July 14, 2009 12:05 PM
-men shaving with an electric shaver
-women applying mascara and eyeliner and other make-up
-I once saw a woman changing her pants while driving, yes, her pants.
-And the extreme, I once saw a person reading the paper that was braced aginst the steering wheel with his elbows while holding a coffee in one hand and and eating a breakfast sandwich in the other.
There have been parents turning around with eyes off the road to discipline fighting kids in the car for years.
It is sad that common sense has to be legislated.
July 14, 2009 2:36 PM
This suggests that hands-free might actually be *more* dangerous insofar as they're involved in an equal number of accidents but hands-free accidents are at higher speeds because users don't realize they're impaired.
July 14, 2009 2:36 PM
This suggests that hands-free might actually be *more* dangerous insofar as they're involved in an equal number of accidents but hands-free accidents are at higher speeds because users don't realize they're impaired.
July 14, 2009 3:50 PM
Phones vs alcohol -> "... [T]wo studies ... compared drunk and cell phone drivers. Both studies found that the participants in the phone condition, regardless of the phone type, were as slow as, if not slower than, drunk drivers, to respond to signals. Driving drunk is illegal in many jurisdictions. Perhaps similar restrictions regarding use of a cell phone while driving should be considered."
Phones vs passenger conversation -> "...[I]n other studies when natural interaction was involved between the passenger and the driver, there was a safety advantage for the passenger conversation over the phone conversation ... When natural interaction is involved, the driver and the passenger can develop the same situational awareness ... making it less likely that the passenger will initiate a conversation that might distract the driver's attention. Conversely, because of this shared situational awareness, there is less social pressure to remain engaged with a passenger than with a phone conversant: The passenger will realize that the demands of driving have caused a cessation of the conversation, while the phone conversant will perceive such a cessation as rude."
July 29, 2009 11:24 AM
July 29, 2009 11:24 AM
July 30, 2009 2:55 PM
Guess what? That wouldn't work either, because the driver would be distracted by the fact that they don't know what their passengers are doing!!
No studies have been done to establish the reaction times of drivers during these circumstances
Talking to another passenger
Arguing with another passenger
Turned around into the back seat to tend to children
Drinking coffee
Smoking a cigarette
Drinking coffee AND smoking a cigarette
If this was done, I firmly believe that it would quickly be established that even handheld cellular phone use is NO MORE DISTRACTING than these activities, which are considered normal in a motor vehicle.
The fact of the matter is that there is ALWAYS something which will distract a driver. To think that we all live in a bubble is ridiculous.
I'm tired of having my personal choices legislated because some people are idiots.
Maybe that last statement is not politically correct, however; it IS accurate.
July 30, 2009 2:55 PM
Guess what? That wouldn't work either, because the driver would be distracted by the fact that they don't know what their passengers are doing!!
No studies have been done to establish the reaction times of drivers during these circumstances
Talking to another passenger
Arguing with another passenger
Turned around into the back seat to tend to children
Drinking coffee
Smoking a cigarette
Drinking coffee AND smoking a cigarette
If this was done, I firmly believe that it would quickly be established that even handheld cellular phone use is NO MORE DISTRACTING than these activities, which are considered normal in a motor vehicle.
The fact of the matter is that there is ALWAYS something which will distract a driver. To think that we all live in a bubble is ridiculous.
I'm tired of having my personal choices legislated because some people are idiots.
Maybe that last statement is not politically correct, however; it IS accurate.