A University of Utah researcher says using a cell phone while driving causes a brain overload. Distracted motorists are adding 10 per cent to their commute time even with hands-free devices.
Study author
David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, says chatty drivers clog highways by traveling 2 mph slower than those not on the phone.
2 mph may not seem that much slower, however, if you traveled an hour a day, the slower speed would add 20 hours a year to your commute time.
"The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions," said Strayer, whose study will be presented later this month to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. "People kind of get stuck behind that person, and it makes everyone pay the price of that distracted driver."
Strayer based his study on three dozen students driving simulators. In the study he found that students on cell phones would were far more likely to stay behind a slow car and change lanes about 20 per cent less often than when not on the phone.
Also in the simulator cell phone drivers took about 3 per cent longer to drive the same clogged route than people that were not on a cell phone.
About one in 10 drivers is on the phone, so it really adds up, said Strayer, whose earlier studies have found slower reaction times from drivers on the phone and compared those reaction times to people legally drunk.
The study makes perfect since, the frontal cortex can only handle so many tasks at a time, so you slow down when the brain starts to overload.
Anne McCartt, senior vice president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that the students reactions may not translate into real-world situations and may not be completely valid.
However, the study does give us a better picture of how cell phones can distract drivers.
Study: Cell Phone Users Cause Traffic Jams
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