Cell Phone Use is Equally Dangerous as Driving Drunk

Using a cell phone when you’re driving is just as dangerous as driving when drunk, according to a recently published study. Legislation in various states has tried to force the use of hands-free cell phones, but the study found that this didn’t affect the results; hands-free phones were just as risky, suggesting that the conversation itself is the distracting factor.

Forty volunteers (25 men and 15 women) aged 22 to 34 (when one might expect that driving reactions would be optimal) took 3 tests on a driving simulator – the first as ‘baseline’, the second while talking on a cell phone to an assistant, and a third after taking enough vodka to reach a blood alcohol level of 0.08% (the intoxication level in most states).

While talking on the cell phone, there were 3 rear-end collisions, and reaction times to braking were 9% slower. After drinking, there were no rear-end collisions, but they participants were more aggressive in their driving – they followed closer to the driver ahead, came within 4 seconds of a collision, and hit the brakes with 23% more force.

The investigators interpreted these results as showing that driving impairments when using a cell phone can be as profound as those associated with a blood alcohol level of 0.08%. Similar findings have been reported before, emphasizing the risks of using cell phones while driving. One wonders how many of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) use their cell phones when driving

Now we need similar studies for text messaging. “Texting” has been reported to be just as dangerous, if not more so, in an Australian study. But, of course, it’s even harder for authorities to detect and prohibit.

Comments

[Robert Griffith]

Just after I posted this article there was a terrible drunk-driver car crash in New Mexico, my home state. A family almost wiped out, the driver going the wrong way down the interstate. I think my cell-phone/drunk driving conclusions need revising.
A drunk driver is impaired for a long period, maybe hitting a number of cars before the fatal one. On the other hand, a cell-phone user can be brought to full awareness after the initial jolt of an accident-about-to-happen, and can perhaps correct things. Drunk driving clearly deserves more attention than phone use and even text messaging!