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Last updated: Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A new study using cameras and instrumentation has concluded that dialing or texting on a cell phone by a driver leads to “a substantial increase in the risk of being involved” in a crash or near-miss. The study, by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), noted that “driving is a visual task.” It urged that texting be banned in all moving vehicles for all drivers, and that all cell-phone use be banned for teenagers who have recently gotten their licenses. If texting continues to grow in popularity and as kids who are now heavy texters reach driving age, the study concluded, there could be a “true crash epidemic.” 20 Times Worse The report, which noted several recent trucking and transit crashes directly linked to texting, used analyses of where drivers’ eyes were while performing cell-phone tasks. Texting, in particular, created a risk for drivers more than 20 times worse than drivers who weren’t using a phone. VTTI found the average time a texting driver takes his or her eyes off the road is the equivalent of traveling a football field at 55 mph, or 4.6 seconds over a six-second interval. By contrast, talking or listening to a cell-phone conversation allowed the driver to watch the road, according to VTTI. However, it noted that studies from other organizations, using driving simulators, indicated that talking and listening can be as dangerous as mobile-device functions that involve manual tasks. The study used real-world driving conditions, not a driving simulator, and pointed out that simulators don’t always match with actual driving studies. VTTI found that “cognitively intense” tasks, such as emotional conversations over a mobile device or listening to audio books, have an effect that can be measured, but the driving risk is much lower compared to tasks such as texting and dialing. Stickers on Cell Phones? In response to…

Originally posted here:
Study: Ban Driver Texting To Avoid ‘Crash Epidemic’

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