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Car telephone use, driver behaviour and accident risk. A discussion of research results and possible risk-reducing measures.

Authors: Fridulv Sagberg, Truls Vaa
Report nr: 1020/1995
Language: Norwegian

To assess effects of mobile telephone use on car driving behaviour, sixteen experimental studies from several countries were surveyed. Increased variation of lateral position and more driving errors have been found during originating of telephone calls, especially when the keypad is held in the hand or is placed on the middle console. Performance tends to deteriorate also during the phone conversation, shown primarily by increased reaction time and reduced headways. Performance decrements increase with the complexity of the telephone task, and are larger among older than among younger drivers. Accident risk is probably enhanced during telephoning, although conclusive studies of telephone involvement in accidents are lacking. Traffic safety can probably be increased by legal measures regulating the use of telephones while driving, as well as by improved facilities for handsfree use both while placing the call and while carrying out the conversation. Further research is needed to get better estimates of the number of accidents where telephone use has been a contributing cause.

      

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