Feds: Car cell phone fix fails
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Feds: Car cell phone fix fails
NHTSA finds driver distraction is still a problem, even with hands-free devices.
By Jeff Plungis The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- Detailed new research shows that using a cell phone behind the wheel is a key cause of traffic accidents and that hand-free devices provide little safety benefit, federal officials told an international automotive safety gathering Wednesday.
In a closely watched real-world study published Wednesday, a team from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration watched 100 drivers for a year, concluding that the use of electronic devices such as cell phones precipitated many crashes and near-misses.
Other NHTSA researchers said devices like head sets or voice-activated dialing led to longer dialing times than for those using hand-held phones. The delays offset the potential benefit of keeping both hands on the wheel.
In a nation of cell phone users, hands-free devices have been touted as a potential solution to growing driver distraction issues. New York banned drivers from using hand-held phones in 2001. New Jersey and the District of Columbia passed similar laws last year.
But whether drivers use a hand-held device or not, "phone use degraded both driving performance and vehicle control," said NHTSA's Elizabeth Mazzae.
The NHTSA-Virginia tech team used cameras and internal car sensors to track the activities inside a vehicle immediately before a dangerous event, including crashes, near-crashes and "incidents" that required an evasive maneuver to avoid a crash.
The 100-car study showed such events and accidents were often preceded by distraction, and the most frequent distraction was the use of a cell phone or other electronic device.
There were nearly 700 incidents involving wireless devices, the study found.
The next most-frequent source of distraction was a passenger, which preceded a problem situation nearly 400 times. Eating -- another common distraction -- led to risky behavior just over 100 times.
The agency's research program is intended to test the assumption that hands-free phones are safe, NHTSA researcher Mazzae said during the International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles in Washington.
NHTSA officials have expressed concern that hands-free devices can give drivers a false sense of security, when research has shown that it is the act of conversation that leads to distraction and inattentive driver behavior.
Auto companies have been conducting their own research to gauge how well hands-free devices help drivers stay focused.
Jeff Greenberg, director of Ford Motor Co.'s driving simulator, has conducted a number of studies trying to break down which parts of cell phone conversations impair drivers. The research is building, but it is too soon to know what to do, he said.
"The preponderance of evidence suggests that long conversations while driving impair your ability to react to events," Greenberg said. "But it would be difficult to make rules about conversations in vehicles."
The federal research presented Wednesday adds to a growing body of studies that suggest hands-free cell-phone systems will not deliver the safety benefits automakers and legislators hoped for.
In 2003, for example, University of Utah professor David Strayer found cell-phone conversations can lead to a kind of "inattention blindness," as drivers fail to recognize objects or events in their field of view. Strayer found that drivers using hand-held and hands-free cell phones were equally impaired.
Local drivers are split on the issue. Some said their own experiences show that going hands-free can actually create additional problems for drivers.
"It's a distraction trying to keep the earpiece in your ear," said Benn Perry, 50, who said he doesn't use the hands-free device his wife gave him during his commute from Commerce Township to Southfield.
Others aren't convinced of the dangers of cell phones.
Greg Rosinski is a Canton resident who uses his cell's speaker phone function. He said studies about the dangers of cell phone use while driving tend to exaggerate.
"Having a baby or even another person in the car is just as distracting," said Rosinski, a former account representative for a cell phone company. "I don't buy any of this scare tactics stuff. Cell phones are no more a cause of accidents than someone applying mascara or eating in the car."
Leading causes of driver distraction
• Wireless devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants
• Passenger behavior
• Internal events
• Vehicle-related
• Personal hygiene
• Eating
• External events
• Talking/singing to oneself
• Smoking
By Jeff Plungis The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- Detailed new research shows that using a cell phone behind the wheel is a key cause of traffic accidents and that hand-free devices provide little safety benefit, federal officials told an international automotive safety gathering Wednesday.
In a closely watched real-world study published Wednesday, a team from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration watched 100 drivers for a year, concluding that the use of electronic devices such as cell phones precipitated many crashes and near-misses.
Other NHTSA researchers said devices like head sets or voice-activated dialing led to longer dialing times than for those using hand-held phones. The delays offset the potential benefit of keeping both hands on the wheel.
In a nation of cell phone users, hands-free devices have been touted as a potential solution to growing driver distraction issues. New York banned drivers from using hand-held phones in 2001. New Jersey and the District of Columbia passed similar laws last year.
But whether drivers use a hand-held device or not, "phone use degraded both driving performance and vehicle control," said NHTSA's Elizabeth Mazzae.
The NHTSA-Virginia tech team used cameras and internal car sensors to track the activities inside a vehicle immediately before a dangerous event, including crashes, near-crashes and "incidents" that required an evasive maneuver to avoid a crash.
The 100-car study showed such events and accidents were often preceded by distraction, and the most frequent distraction was the use of a cell phone or other electronic device.
There were nearly 700 incidents involving wireless devices, the study found.
The next most-frequent source of distraction was a passenger, which preceded a problem situation nearly 400 times. Eating -- another common distraction -- led to risky behavior just over 100 times.
The agency's research program is intended to test the assumption that hands-free phones are safe, NHTSA researcher Mazzae said during the International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles in Washington.
NHTSA officials have expressed concern that hands-free devices can give drivers a false sense of security, when research has shown that it is the act of conversation that leads to distraction and inattentive driver behavior.
Auto companies have been conducting their own research to gauge how well hands-free devices help drivers stay focused.
Jeff Greenberg, director of Ford Motor Co.'s driving simulator, has conducted a number of studies trying to break down which parts of cell phone conversations impair drivers. The research is building, but it is too soon to know what to do, he said.
"The preponderance of evidence suggests that long conversations while driving impair your ability to react to events," Greenberg said. "But it would be difficult to make rules about conversations in vehicles."
The federal research presented Wednesday adds to a growing body of studies that suggest hands-free cell-phone systems will not deliver the safety benefits automakers and legislators hoped for.
In 2003, for example, University of Utah professor David Strayer found cell-phone conversations can lead to a kind of "inattention blindness," as drivers fail to recognize objects or events in their field of view. Strayer found that drivers using hand-held and hands-free cell phones were equally impaired.
Local drivers are split on the issue. Some said their own experiences show that going hands-free can actually create additional problems for drivers.
"It's a distraction trying to keep the earpiece in your ear," said Benn Perry, 50, who said he doesn't use the hands-free device his wife gave him during his commute from Commerce Township to Southfield.
Others aren't convinced of the dangers of cell phones.
Greg Rosinski is a Canton resident who uses his cell's speaker phone function. He said studies about the dangers of cell phone use while driving tend to exaggerate.
"Having a baby or even another person in the car is just as distracting," said Rosinski, a former account representative for a cell phone company. "I don't buy any of this scare tactics stuff. Cell phones are no more a cause of accidents than someone applying mascara or eating in the car."
Leading causes of driver distraction
• Wireless devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants
• Passenger behavior
• Internal events
• Vehicle-related
• Personal hygiene
• Eating
• External events
• Talking/singing to oneself
• Smoking
. I could have told them that.
wait a second, they actually think hands free will fix the problem??? man is that stupid....
the problem isn't about the hand holding the phone, the problem is about concentration...... even if the driver is too distracted talking to the passenger and that would cause accidents already.....
the problem isn't about the hand holding the phone, the problem is about concentration...... even if the driver is too distracted talking to the passenger and that would cause accidents already.....
This is nothing new. Even years ago when this whole hands free thing started all the studies had a disclaimer at the end saying that even with the use of hands free kits the risk didn't go down. It was the distraction that was the problem. This distraction could be from anything even adjusting the radio or talking to a passanger. I'll be honest, I don't buy this cell phone thing causing more accidents survey. Personally, I've never been in a situation ever where a near miss or an accident happend because of another driver using the cell phone. I'm sure that many others have their own stories, but I see and avoid near misses everyday from other drivers just plain being stupid with no cell phone in their hand. Now, the one thing I do notice is that drivers using cell phones often don't signal when they turn or change lanes (Even though I do), but in my state most people don't signal anyway so its not anything different.
Also, who hear really keeps two hands on the steering wheel? I know it is a bad habbit, but I grew up driving manual cars so one handled driving was fairly common. If this is such a big problem, why do cars like Lexus and other luxury cars have arm rest for the drivers seat? There is no way I can put my hand on the steering wheel if it is on the arm rest.
Also, who hear really keeps two hands on the steering wheel? I know it is a bad habbit, but I grew up driving manual cars so one handled driving was fairly common. If this is such a big problem, why do cars like Lexus and other luxury cars have arm rest for the drivers seat? There is no way I can put my hand on the steering wheel if it is on the arm rest.
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Joined: Dec 2003
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From: California
I'm in heavy traffic every day (LA) all of the near misses I encounter are from people on their cell phones not because they were dialing but because they were on it, and obviously they're attention wasn't on the road it was on their conversation. We see it all the time, someone driving much slower than the speed limit, freeway /street, not responding to the light when it turns green, not coming to a complete stop at stop signs when they need to due to on coming traffic, drifting in and out of their lane. All that stuff you'll find because someone is heavely engaged in a conversation on their cell, I see it every single day all day. I don't need some survey to tell me what the problem is, most people just can't do both and I'm one of them so I pull over when I need to use my cell. Having a heavy conversation with my passanger distracts me even, I often miss my turn as a result of. In this case its the conversation not the device that leads to crashes.
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