Driving? Hang Up, Damn It!
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Driving Under Cell Phone Influence Can Be Deadly
Motorists who talk on handheld OR hands-free cellular phones while driving are as impaired as drunken drivers—it’s worse if a driver texts.
We all know driving while talking on our cell phones is annoying to others and dangerous—if not downright deadly. The University of Utah published an article entitled “Drivers on Cell Phones are as Bad as Drunks.” The commentary did not address the dangers of texting while driving—but we at Mad Mike’s America will.
Research co-author Frank Drews stated We found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08% [the minimum level that defines illegal drunken driving in most U.S. states]. If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving.
The study’s lead author, Dr. David Strayer, adds: Just like you put yourself and other people at risk when you drive drunk, you put yourself and others at risk when you use a cell phone and drive. The level of impairment is very similar.
Even hands-free conversations are extremely dangerous.
A study by Strayer and Drews proved hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as handheld cell phone. The conversation itself—not just manipulation of a handheld phone—distracts drivers from road conditions.
The study confirmed other research findings relating to those driving while talking on cell phones.
Motorists who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly slower, were 9% slower to hit the brakes, displayed 24% more variation in following distance as their attention switched between driving and conversing, were 19% slower to resume normal speed after braking, and were more likely to crash. Three study participants rear-ended the pace car. All were talking on cell phones. None were drunk.
Drivers drunk at the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and drivers using cell phones, yet more aggressively. They followed the pace car more closely, were twice as likely to brake only four seconds before a collision would have occurred, and hit their brakes with 23 percent more force. “Neither accident rates, nor reaction times to vehicles braking in front of the participant, nor recovery of lost speed following braking differed significantly” from undistracted drivers, the researchers write.
“Impairments associated with using a cell phone while driving can be as profound as those associated with driving while drunk,” they conclude.
Previous studies support the University of Utah’s findings.
- A 2001 study showing that hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as handheld cell phones.
- A 2003 study showing that the reason is “inattention blindness,” in which motorists look directly at road conditions but don’t really see them because they are distracted by a cell phone conversation. Such drivers aren’t aware they are impaired.
- A 2005 study indicated that when teenagers and young adults talk on cell phones while driving, their reaction times are as slow as those of elderly drivers.
The University of Utah psychologists conducted the alcohol study because of a 1997 study which evaluated cell phone records of 699 people involved in motor vehicle accidents. One-fourth used their phone in the 10 minutes before their accident—a four-fold increase in accidents compared with undistracted motorists.
If you text while you’re driving, your chances of getting in an accident are even worse.
When a text notification comes in on your smart phone, your immediate reaction is to grab the device and read the message, right? If it’s an important message from your boss or your child, you’ll probably text back. Or maybe you just need to grab your phone to text a friend about dinner plans.
Car and Driver magazine tested what happens when people text and drive. They rigged a car with a red light to alert drivers when to brake, the magazine tested the time it takes to hit the brake when sober, when legally drunk at .08%, when reading an e-mail, and when sending a text.
Driving 70 miles per hour on a deserted air strip, Car and Driver editor Eddie Alterman was slower—and slower reacting and braking—when e-mailing and texting.
The results should scare you so much, that you should want to turn off your smart phone while driving.
- Unimpaired: 54 seconds to brake
- Legally drunk: add 4 feet—58 seconds to break
- Reading e-mail: add 36 feet—90 seconds to break
- Texting: add 70 feet—124 seconds to break
These results indicate that people who text and drive are 56% more likely to get into an accident than a driver who’s concentrating on the road.
Most people recognize that drinking and driving as wrong. But, texting and driving are even more dangerous, and most of us don’t realize it.
Although texting and driving is banned in 14 states, it will unfortunately take more accidents and deaths to change our minds. There are countless stories of teens dying in accidents because the driver was texting while driving.
Here’s a graphic example from a previous Mad Mike’s America article:
Think twice before you pick up your smart phone while on the road to text a friend, co-worker, or family member: texting or talking while driving is a dangerous, terrible, and potentially deadly habit.
Mad Mike’s America thanks CNBC, Car and Driver, and the University of Utah News.
How can states effectively monitor people who either talk and/or text while driving?
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Maybe we need to have cars with lead shields to prevent the entry of radio signals of any kind entering them Dorothy. Nah, them people would be riding down the road holding the damn things out the window.