Don’t mix driving and mobile calling, a study suggests

Researchers from U.S. have discovered that people who make phone calls while driving are as risky drivers as people who drink and drive.

The researchers say even using 'hands-free' devices is as dangerous as driving drunk.

The study, carried by researcher Frank Drews from the University of Utah, was published Friday in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors, the journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah, said, "If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving."

The researchers, who used a driving simulation device for their study, observed 40 participants who used a driving simulator four times, firstly undistracted, using a handheld mobile phone, using a hands-free mobile phone and finally while intoxicated to a 0.08% blood-alcohol level (the average legal level of impairment in the US) after drinking vodka and orange juice.

After analyzing the study, the researchers found that as many as three study volunteers rear-ended the simulated car in front of them. All were talking on mobile phones and none was drunk, they added.

Drivers, who talked on either handheld or hands-free mobile sets drove slightly more slowly, were 9% slower to hit the brakes and varied their speed more than undistracted drivers.

Motorists with a 0.08% blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and phone users, yet more aggressively.

"Driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as or maybe worse than driving drunk," concluded Drews.

Similar to many people who have been drinking, the mobile phone users did not expect themselves to be harmed, the researchers found.

"We found that when people talk on a cell phone they are as impaired as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit (of 0.08). It was a surprise to us." said Frank Drews, who has published earlier studies showing drivers on the phone are at higher risk of accidents.

Unexpectedly, the study supports the previous findings that there's no difference between hand-held and hands-free. "There is a (more dangerous) component when people are dialing the phone or searching for the cell phone in the briefcase on the seat beside them, but what distracts people when talking on a cell phone is the conversation, not holding the phone," he briefed.