From AP:
Drivers talking on cell phones are probably making your commute even longer, concludes a new study.
Motorists yakking away, even with handsfree devices, crawl about 2 mph slower on commuter-clogged roads than people not on the phone, and they just don't keep up with the flow of traffic, said study author David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah. [...]
Strayer's study, based on three dozen students driving in simulators, found that drivers on cell phones are far more likely to stick behind a slow car in front of them and change lanes about 20 percent less often than drivers not on the phone.
Overall, cell phone drivers took about 3 percent longer to drive the same highly traffic-clogged route (and about 2 percent longer to drive a medium congested route) than people who were not on the phone. About one in 10 drivers is on the phone so it really adds up, said Strayer, whose earlier studies have found slower reaction times from drivers on the phones and compared those reaction times to people legally drunk.
Combine those factors and Strayer figures distracted drivers are adding an extra 5 to 10 percent of time to your commute.
Link: Study: Drivers on Cells Clogging Traffic (NYT/AP)
So why isn't this illegal yet? Or why aren't there at least some public awareness campaigns? Addressing this doesn't necessitate "banning every driver distraction known to man," as some silly libertarians would have us believe.
p.s. The Reuters article about the study is a little more detailed (and colorful):
If you're late for work, a driver using a cell phone may be to blame. U.S. researchers said on Wednesday that people who use cell phones while behind the wheel impede the flow of traffic, clog highways and extend commute times.
"It's a bit like breaking wind in the elevator. Everyone suffers," Peter Martin of the University of Utah's Traffic Lab said in a telephone interview.
Prior studies have equated the risk of driving while talking on a cell phone with driving while drunk. Some 50 countries have banned use of hand-held phones while driving.
Link: Cell phone users tie up traffic (Yahoo/Reuters)
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