Mobile Phones whilst driving... 1079

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:21:19 GMT, in uk.rec.driving, andrew mccay

Hands-free mobile phones offer no protection against car accidents, according to world-first Australian research that plotted the call records of drivers involved in crashes.

Drivers were four times more likely to crash while using a phone - whether they were holding it or not.

The findings challenge the rationale for laws that permit motorists to make calls while driving only with hands-free devices. And they confirm a growing body of evidence that shows the mental distraction of phone conversations affects driving skills at least as much as physically handling the phone.

The studyâs leader, Mark Stevenson, said: ãThe road authorities need to reconsider the basis of legislation - there is overwhelming evidence itâs the distraction factor.ä

The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority said hand-held phones were identified as a possible contributor to 10 crashes in 2004 in which there were injuries, and a further 20 in which cars had to be towed away. But, said RTA spokeswoman Karen Smith, this was likely to be an underestimate.

In the 18 months to June last year, 20,383 NSW drivers were fined for using a hand-held phone. The penalty is $231 and three demerit points.

Professor Stevenson, director of the injury prevention and trauma care division at the University of Sydneyâs George Insbreastute for International Health, said there would be practical difficulties in policing any extension to the law. It was more important, he said, to change atbreastudes to using the phone while driving.

The mobile phone firm Vodafone encourages workers to limit their phone calls while driving and warns them: ãA conversation on a hands-free mobile phone may be more distracting than a conversation with a pbuttenger in a vehicle with you. This is because your pbuttenger will be aware of road conditions but a person who is talking with you on your hands-free phone will not.ä

Professor Stevensonâs study, conducted in Perth emergency departments, examined the phone records of 456 injured drivers and found 40 of them - 9 per cent - had used their mobile within 10 minutes before the crash. Only 3 per cent of the same drivers had been on the phone at comparable times of day during the previous week. Statistical analysis showed the risk of a crash was four times higher around the time of the phone call.

Writing in the journal BMJ, Professor Stevenson said wireless and voice-activated phones might remove some distracting elements from calls but not the risk. ãIf this technology actually increases mobile phone use in cars, it could contribute to even more crashes.ä

This looks at lots of distractions, I'll quote from two: Mobile Phones

* Many studies have found that using a hands-free phone while driving is no safer than using a hand-held phone. Using a mobile phone while driving can increase the risk of being involved in a collision by up to four times. * Research suggests that both the physical and cognitive distraction caused by using mobile phones while driving can significantly impair a driver's visual search patterns, reaction times, decision-making processes and their ability to maintain speed, throttle control and lateral position on the road. * Mobile phone use also often involves buttociated tasks that may further distract the driver. These activities can include writing down phone numbers on a piece of paper whilst driving or writing down dates or notes in diaries. * Sending a text message is more distracting than simply talking on a mobile phone. * Research has found that talking on a mobile phone is more distracting than holding an intelligent conversation with a pbuttenger, but no more distracting than eating a cheeseburger.

Route Guidance Systems

* Entering destination information is believed to be the most distracting task buttociated with the use of a route guidance system, however use of voice input technology can reduce the distraction buttociated with this task. * Route guidance systems that present navigation instructions using voice output are less distracting and more usable than those systems that present the information on a visual display. * Route guidance systems with voice recognition technology are a more ergonomic and safer option than systems that require visual-manual entry. * Route guidance systems that provide turn-by turn instructions, rather than presenting complex holistic route information, are less distracting to the driver and present the most useable means of navigation.

My original point of course was about employers banning all use of mobile phones while driving. This still seems clearly valid even if eating might be just as distracting. The point is that providing handsfree kits might be seen as encouraging employees to use them.... which seems obvious... and thus contributing to any accident caused by their use.

Doug -- Doug Weller -- exorcise the demon to reply