In light of the "backwards-travelling wave" that researchers recently discovered as a cause of congestion, another study has pinpointed a possible major contributor. The University of Utah's Traffic Lab uncovered that drivers paying more attention to yapping on their phone – hands free or not – add to the suffering of us all. Talking while driving leads to drivers who take considerably longer to change lanes when following slow-moving vehicles, drive slower overall, and take longer to arrive at their destination.
Any benefits from slower speeds and more deliberate movements are mitigated by the distraction of a conversation. Thinking along the lines of chaos theory, even the small slowdowns created by poky drivers can grow into exponentially larger traffic problems quickly. Then, when we're all stuck in the stop and go, we call someone else and bitch about how bad the traffic is. Sounds like what they've really discovered in Utah is the fuel for a perpetual motion machine. Car stops, jaw continually flaps.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
whofan @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:07PM
Cell phones in cars, might as well make drunk driving legal too.
Xcountryflyer @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:13PM
Cell phone drivers are some of the very worst. In their cell phone world--not the world of driving.
VP @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:40PM
Pretty funny DOT sign in the pic above. :)
John R @ Jan 4th 2008 6:44AM
lol
Jon04CTSV @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:45PM
Ignorant people make up stuff like this.
Tell me... If I have my cell phone on speaker. What is the difference between that and talking to a passenger in the car?
In fact, it is SAFER to use a cell on speaker than to talk to a passenger. I bet you that when people talk to passengers in their car, they look over at them.
People can complain about others on cell phones all they want. I guarantee you they don't sit in their cars in silence when they have passengers.
Cornholio @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:53PM
Coversing with passengers in-depth (you know, something more than "where do you want to go to lunch?") is also dangerously distracting. So is swatting at the kids in the back seat, diddling the dog, fumbling for a new CD, and so forth.
In other words, FOCUS ON DRIVING.
WillDaThrill @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:59PM
I don't think it's the hands-free thats the problem. It's the texting and dialing numbers, checking your inbox and so forth during driving. It's just as bad as reading a fold out map.
Kiiks @ Jan 4th 2008 4:48AM
How often does that passenger have tell you "watch out!" when you're not paying attention to the road? Give me a break.
stephen @ Jan 4th 2008 12:04PM
wrongo. I dont look at people wheni talk to them in the car, i concentrate on the road. And no, it wouldnt be safer to talk to someone on a speakerphone than a passenger. IF your passenger is paying remote attention to what your doing, they will be able to sense when its not a good time to talk, unlike a speakerphone.
Matt @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:46PM
What I think is funny, is that there are actually people out there...who are not in a mental institution, that think a hands-free thing is safer than holding the phone.
People...holding an object to your ear is not the problem...it is the act of engaging in a conversation that is killing people on our roads.
Jon04CTSV @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:48PM
So then all cars should have 1 seat and only 1 seat so there are no passengers to look at or talk to.
JD @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:59PM
Jon04CTS seems very, very defensive of cellphone use while driving. Definitely been in an accident or two while on the phone, I think, and trying to defend himself..... anyhow. :) I think that there are multiple layers to it, but I notice that I drive less than my best when I'm on a phone, using my Bluetooth or not. I think that holding it to your ear does cause some problem, but it seems to me that having even a "Shallow" conversation on a cell phone seems more difficult than a similar conversation when the person is sitting next to you. Anything you in parallel with driving is taking your mind off the true task at hand: driving. Whether it is adjusting the AC, changing the radio station, or especially using satnav, it's all stealing some concentration. Do some activities take more concentration than others? Of course. I make it a habit to not answer my phone while I'm driving unless the call really cannot wait. It's not a matter of taking your eyes off the road, which is pretty bad, but rather the brain power that is being diverted from your reaction time to your conversation or telling the damn phone what to do, which can be as difficult as the conversation itself! Different people are better or worse at multitasking while driving than others, for sure, but the fact is that everyone will have a slower reaction time to an emergency situation if they are on their phone. Anyhow, I (again) didn't need a study to tell me this fact. If you look at the road around you, it's all over.
Jon04CTSV @ Jan 4th 2008 3:25AM
Never been in an accident JD. I drive everyday and I see things that are much worse than people using cell phones. My arguement with this is that people like to blame stuff on cell phones when there is much worse going on.
You are true that when you said "but rather the brain power that is being diverted from your reaction time to your conversation "
Now tell me, if you are having a conversation with your passenger, and occasionally looking over, are you not even MORE distracted than if you were talking to someone elsewhere over the phone?
Perhaps some of you don't know how the Onstar phone works. You push a button on the rearview mirror and say "Call 'name'" or "Dial 'xxx-xxx-xxxx'".
My whole point is that talking to a passenger in the car is even more distracting. Either way you are having a conversation and your brain is working. At least on a cell phone you have no one to look at or make hand gestures at.
JD @ Jan 4th 2008 4:06AM
Yeah, sounds good Jon. I have no argument with you, I just think, from experience, that it takes more to focus on a casual phone conversation than on a casual passenger conversation. The person riding shotgun also has a vested interest (usually!) in not crashing, whereas, on the phone, the other party isn't aware of any potential danger, and therefore can give you no input for better or worse. I can also tell from your post that you are not Italian. Italians use their hands on the phone all the time! Ever been to Italy? :) Anyways, I realize that it's easy to call someone, my phone works the same way on my BT headset, I just find it more distracting for myself personally to have a phone conversation. And in fact, I usually make an intentional effort to NOT look at a person if they're in the car with me, since somewhere I think I read that it takes your brain something like 3-5 seconds to actually focus back on the road. You have a very good point, and I've seen people driving distracted with passengers- but there is a much greater number of people with cell phones than carpooling, unfortunately. I like to think I'm one of the better drivers while under the influence of phone- but this only makes me think of the stat where something like 3/4 of drivers think they are better than average.
Matt @ Jan 4th 2008 12:29AM
Absolutely...
JD, right on the money!
spdracerut @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:48PM
What would be even better would be if slow drivers stayed in the right lanes and people only used the left lanes for passing. What a concept!
Jon04CTSV @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:56PM
Doesn't really matter whether it's in depth or not. Even if it doesn't require thinking people still usually look over at other people when talking to them.
Some people like to use hand gestures while talking to passengers as well.
My point is that people like to complain about cell phones, when talking to passengers is way more distracting.
diehard1 @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:53PM
Didn't Mythbusters prove this already.
http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2005/06/mythbusters_killer_brace_posit.html
Jon04CTSV @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:58PM
Too bad they didn't do a study on how dangerous it is talking to passengers.
JayP @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:11PM
Passenger in car "OGM!! YOU'RE ABOUT TO HIT A SCHOOL!!"
Person on the other end of a cell "Yap, yap, yap."