Cellphone-Talking Alone No Driver Distraction, Virginia Tech Study Suggests
A new study found that dialing, texting or even reaching for a cellphone while driving is dangerous behavior, especially for a novice driver, but just talking on a phone may not raise the risk of a crash. The research by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute was published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
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The results suggest that not all use is a distraction, as long as drivers keep their eyes on the road. The U.S. Department of Transportation launched a major campaign against using cellphones while driving (http://1.usa.gov/1903oCt). “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is committed to addressing the dangerous practice of distracted driving on our nation’s roads and is pleased that other organizations are conducting research in this area,” an agency official said Thursday. “The agency is aware of this new research and will review its findings."
"Our analysis showed that the performance of secondary tasks, including dialing or reaching for a cell phone, texting, reaching for an object other than a cell phone, looking at a roadside object, and eating, was associated with a significantly increased risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers,” the report said (http://bit.ly/1grCEuT). “Among experienced drivers, only dialing a cell phone was associated with an increased risk.” However, researchers note that tests were done before texting became more prevalent.
Previous research had found cellphone use alone was associated with an increase in the risk of a crash by a factor of four, researchers said: “Our analysis, which separated talking and dialing tasks, showed that talking on a cell phone was not associated with a significant increase in the risk of a crash among novice or experienced drivers, whereas dialing was associated with an increased risk in both groups.”
Two different studies collected data from 42 newly licensed drivers in southwestern Virginia and from 100 vehicles driven by 109 participants of various ages in the Washington, D.C., area. Those who participated were compensated for taking part. Researchers installed four cameras (forward view, rear view, view of the driver’s face, and view over the driver’s right shoulder) and various vehicle sensors in each vehicle. The novice driver study ran 18 months and the 100-car study 12 months. Data for the novice study was collected in 2006-2008, for the 100-car study in 2003-2004.
David Strayer, a University of Utah researcher who has also studied distracted driving, disagreed with some of the conclusions. “Naturalistic studies are good at measuring visual and manual distraction from dialing/texting, but not well equipped to measure cognitive distraction from talking on a cell phone,” Strayer told us. “Because crashes are infrequent, naturalistic studies rely on surrogate measures, including lane deviations and curb strikes. ... People actually stay in their lane better with cognitive distraction from cellphone use but are more likely to swerve if they are visually distracted by dialing. Consequently, naturalistic studies underestimate the impairments associated with talking on a cellphone."
"While the findings of various safe driving studies continue to provide different perspectives to consider, CTIA maintains that every driver’s primary responsibility is to focus on operating their vehicle as safely as possible,” said John Walls, vice president at CTIA. “Toward that end, we remind all drivers of the industry’s safety tips, that include avoiding making or taking calls while driving unless it’s absolutely necessary, becoming familiar with your device’s functions, keeping conversations as brief as possible and avoiding stressful calls while driving or conversations in heavy traffic or bad weather.”