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Posted Jul 3, 2006, 10:02 AM ET
Using mobile phones impairs your ability to drive.
The University of Utah researchers conducted studies and published them in the journal Human Factors. They revealed some interesting points of comparison between those who use mobile phones while driving and drivers impaired by alcohol.
People, who talk on cell phones while driving, even if using hands-free devices, are as impaired as drunken drivers, researchers said.
"If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving," said Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah, who worked on the study.
Researchers were able to conduct their research by using a driving simulation device their finding can be found in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
There were 40 volunteers who participated in this study. They used a driving simulator four times while undistracted, using a handheld cell phone, using a hands-free cell phone and while intoxicated to a 0.08% blood-alcohol level which is the average legal level of impairment in the U.S. after drinking vodka and orange juice.
Three study participants rear-ended the simulated car in front of them. All were talking on cell phones and none was drunk, the researchers said. Motorists who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly more slowly, were 9% slower to hit the brakes, and varied their speed more than undistracted drivers.
Drivers with a 0.08% blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and telephone users, yet more aggressively.
"Driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as or maybe worse than driving drunk," said Drews. Alcohol was involved in 40% of the 42,000 annual U.S. traffic fatalities, he said.
Researchers found that like many people who have been drinking, the cell phone users did not believe themselves to be affected.
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