Analysis of the literature: the use of mobile phones while driving

The objectives of this report were to examine the effects of hands-free and hand-held mobile phone use on driving performance and to examine the relative effects of hands-free versus hand-held mobile phones on driving. The research reviewed indicates that use of mobile phones can have a significant impact on a number of safety-critical driving performance measures. Using a mobile phone while driving can distract drivers visually, physically, and/or cognitively. Research to date shows a four-fold increase in crash risk with mobile phone use, regardless of hand-held or hands-free mobile phone application. In particular, the distraction caused by conversing on mobile phones while driving has been shown to impair a driver's ability to maintain an appropriate speed, throttle control and lateral position on the road. It can also impair drivers' visual search patterns, reaction times, and decision-making processes. Moreover, these impairments have been demonstrated for both hand-held and hands-free phones, refuting the belief held by many drivers that conversing on hands-free phones is safer than conversing on hand-held phones. Regardless of whether the phone is hands-free or hand-held, drivers are forced to remove their eyes from the road and their hands from the wheel to reach for the phone and initiate a connection by either dialling a number or answering an incoming call. Hand-held phones have the additional physical distraction of requiring the driver to drive one handed while holding the phone to their ear during a conversation. Many factors moderate the effect of mobile phone use on driving performance including: exposure to phone use, phone design, driving and phone task demands and driver characteristics. Initial economic cost-benefit analysis suggests that the value of preventing crashes caused by mobile phone use while driving is approximately equal to value of the calls that would be eliminated by a ban. (A). http://publikationswebbutik.vv.se/upload/3369/2007_35_analysis_of_the_literature_the_use_of_mobile_phones_while_driving.pdf