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Drivers on cell phones may slow us all down
A study shows they drive slower, change lanes less often and have slower reaction times.
Associated Press
Published January 3, 2008
WASHINGTON - Drivers talking on cell phones are probably making your commute even longer, concludes a new study. Motorists yakking away, even with hands-free devices, drive about 2 mph slower on 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. If you drive an hour a day, it could all add around 20 hours a year to your commute, Strayer said. "The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions," said Strayer, whose study will be presented this month to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. "People kind of get stuck behind that person and it makes everyone pay the price of that distracted driver." 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 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 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 drunken drivers. By the numbers Study findings A psychology professor at the University of Utah studied how cell phone conversations affect driving by tracking about three dozen students driving in simulators. 2 mph Average difference in speed in high traffic conditions between drivers who are on a phone and those who are not. 20 percent fewer lane changes for drivers on phones. 20 extra hours on the road a year. The projected amount of time that gabbing will add to a commute of an hour a day. 1 in 10 Estimated number of drivers on the phone.
[Last modified January 3, 2008, 01:32:09]
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by TheSlowCar
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01/04/08 11:55 AM
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That "slow" car y'all want to get around so badly is usually already driving well above the speed limit. Drive responsibly--without distraction, and adhering to speed limits!
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by bird
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01/03/08 08:42 PM
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With all the public outcry and proof that drivers using cell phones cause accidents, why is it still legal????
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by BroEli
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01/03/08 10:36 AM
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It's unbelievable that the use of cell phones is not a traffic violation nationwide. Dumb fools don't realize how much they endanger all of us.
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by Pete
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01/03/08 10:16 AM
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make a law to stop cell phone drivers on the road. It would be smarter to switch to a speaker phone, so you would see less no hands and more folks talking to ones self. You then can use both hands, both eyes, and both sides of your brain.
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by Bubba
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01/03/08 09:55 AM
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Nice how the Times edits and excludes comments even though they comply with your rules. Just don't sit around and wonder why your readership has fallen off so badly because who would actually pay to read this politically sterilized rag?
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by John
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01/03/08 07:57 AM
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It's my God given right to
drive 70 mph on 19N, McMullen
Booth, your neigborhood! And my
right to swerve from lane to
lane(no signal), suck gas,
drive fast or hang body parts
on my rear bumper! America!Hang up, keep up or GET OFF MY
ROAD!!
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by John
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01/03/08 05:45 AM
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Seems like people are doing everything but driving these days. If it is not reading the paper, Talking on thier cell phone, Using thier lap tops & even the good old eating a sandwich. You are not in your living room DRIVE and use a Turn signal
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by John
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01/03/08 05:43 AM
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I see this every day on US 19. I can always tell when someone is on a cell phone never staying up with traffic never using turn signals since FL has not inforced the hands free yet. I had a police cruiser pull up next to me and he was on his cell.
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