Investigation of the Use of Mobile Phones While Driving

The number of mobile phone users in the U.S. has grown from 500,000 in 1985 to 63 million in 1998. This rapid growth has occurred largely without consideration of the mobile phone's suitability for usage while driving. The objective of this report is to summarize existing information on the subject of mobile phone use while driving, in order to provide a concise summary of the issues for the public, researchers, and legislators alike. The report discusses the benefits of mobile phone usage while driving, such as driver safety and time use efficiency, and negative aspects such as its potential for driver distraction resulting in accidents. The report contains information on the demographics of mobile phone use in the U.S., focusing on user demographics and frequency of usage while driving. Findings from literature on the subject of mobile phone use and driving performance are highly variable. In general, it was found that mobile phone use does have an adverse affect on driving performance, but the significance of the distraction is difficult to quantify. Reports found that people that used a mobile phone while driving were anywhere from 34% to 300% more likely to have an accident. With mobile phone use likely to continue to increase in the future, the safety of driving while using a mobile phone will become a very important safety issue. Therefore, it is important to begin to collect better data on the risks associated with using a mobile phone while driving.