LAT: Cellphone Headset Use Isn't Safer for Drivers

[DeepModem Mom]

Cellphone Headset Use Isn't Safer for Drivers
Motorists are just as distracted and likely to end up in a crash, a study by insurers shows.

By James S. Granelli, Times Staff Writer


A study of cellphone use by motorists suggests that they aren't any better off using a headset in the car than holding the phone to their ear: They're still four times more likely to end up in a crash and injured than if they weren't using the phone.

The survey, released Monday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said that using mobile phones while driving was just as dangerous whether they're chatting through a headset or holding on to the handset.

The statistical analysis, which compared phone records with the times of accidents, indicated that the risk was just as great across all age groups and in both sexes.

It's not just keying in phone numbers or calling up messages but the conversation itself that can be the most distracting, said Anne T. McCartt, the insurance institute's research executive overseeing the study....

***

The American Insurance Assn., a Washington-based trade group for insurers, hailed the survey as a major advance in the emerging body of research on cellphone use by motorists....


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cell12jul12,0,436790.story?coll=la-home-business

[wakeme2008]

1. I do not buy this

Then singing along with a song on your radio would be just as dangerous. And NOBODY has ever done that .... :evilgrin:

[krkaufman]

3. Not the same thing

It has been my view that a phone conversation is different in that it is interactive and requires some portion of the brain's processing, lessening the attention paid to the road. Further, a phone conversation often results in visualization, of the other caller or a discussed topic, and therefore consumes a portion of one's visual processing -- even more critical during drive-time.

Fully unscientific, but I expect studies (will) show it to be true.

Then singing along with a song on your radio would be just as dangerous.

I think it's been proven that singing doesn't require much brain function. (see 'Spears, Britney', 'Simpson, Ashlee', 'Simpson, Jessica')

[no name no slogan]

2. Everybody: HANG UP AND DRIVE

car cellphone users are as dangerous as drunk drivers. I've nearly been killed by them numerous times.

If the call is so damn important, pull over and take it. Otherwise, drive now and talk later.

[xxqqqzme]

5. Amen 2 that.

back in the late '80s, when auto 'mobile' phones emerged as status symbols, a 'have to answer it' idiot STOPPED, during morning rush, in the right turn lane 2 talk on his phone. I nearly rear ended him because of it.

Turn your phone OFF when U R driving.

[Darwins Finch]

4. Sounds correct

It's not the mechanical problem of holding the phone that causes the real danger, it's the lack of vigilance caused by engaging in a conversation that does it. People redirect too much awareness to the phone conversation and go into a kind of autopilot. And while this works as long as everything goes smoothly on the road, it's terrible when a situation requiring a rapid response arises. Hence the increase in accidents.

Note that having a conversation with someone in the car with you doesn't carry quite the same danger. This is because the passenger is actually sharing vigilance with you in most cases. When you are talking, they are often watching more intently, and vice versa. The person on the phone can't pick up your slack in the same way.

Personally, I'll be glad when this behaviour is regarded with the same contempt, and punished to the same degree, as drunk driving. Because it's just as irresponsible, and even more preventable.

[NV Whino]

6. Guess they also had better ban

1. all passengers, especially kids
2. pets, especially dogs
3. radios and CD players
4. all consumable food, especially coffee

Oh my God! What's a soccer mom to do?

:sarcasm:

By the way, I don't disagree with "hang up and drive."

[Scooter24]

7. I fail to see

the difference between having a conversation in the car with someone and having a conversation on a wireless mobile phone headset?

[patcox2]

9. I fail to see it, too.

But apparently those who are perfect have ruled that people who have conversations while driving are essentially murderers.

I have a problem, myself, with "driving while stupid." I know for a fact that there are millions of people out there who are just inept and incompetent and dumb, to the point they are way more dangerous sober than I am with a .08 BAC.

Then there's the issue of "driving while self-righteous." I will leave that one alone.

[KittyWampus]

12. all persons in car are at least marginally aware of road around them...

through peripheral vision and group subconscious.

It is a shared experience.

Talking to a distant person who is in an unshared environment and who does not see what you are doing lessens overall awareness.

Distant persons have, for practical purposes, no shared subconscious awareness of the car pulling in front of you.

[Jacobin]

8. That sounds right to me

I really don't know what it is about talking on the phone and driving. I've been guilty of it myself in the past.

For some reason, it is completely different to hold a conversation with someone in the car than it is to talk to someone via phone who is not there.

Must have something to do with concentrating on visualizing the person not there.....or something similar.

[AlCzervik]

10. I dont think it's possible for your brain to handle the task of driving

and having a phone conversation at the same time.

[phylny]

11. As has been asked on this thread already,

how is having a conversation with the person next to you (or in the back seat) different than having a conversation with someone on the phone?

Maybe there's a difference, but I don't understand what it is.

[Darwins Finch]

13. Look again

You didn't read my post then, where I said this:

Note that having a conversation with someone in the car with you doesn't carry quite the same danger. This is because the passenger is actually sharing vigilance with you in most cases. When you are talking, they are often watching more intently, and vice versa. The person on the phone can't pick up your slack in the same way.

A person in the car with you is at risk if you are driving poorly, so they contribute additional vigilance to the task. The person on the other end of the phone is completely unaware of your surroundings, and cannot contribute to the overall vigilance. (If you're wondering why I keep using the word "vigilance", take a look at it's meaning in a psych context.)

Furthermore, a person who is not in the car will not moderate their conversation, so it is far more likely that you will get a distracting or upsetting conversation over the phone than you will from someone who is sitting next to you and who will also die if you drive off that bridge. (Not to say that arguments don't happen in cars, but they're a lot easier over the phone.)

Ideally, people should be focused on driving, PERIOD. But outside of that perfect world, there is a scale of behaviours which increase the risk of accident when driving. And as much as cellphone addicts don't like to hear it, driving on the phone is one of the absolute worst.