Mobile phones

[Silk]

Hard buttons/knobs/switches are an absolute MUST in a car.

No hard knob jokes please.

[Horse]

Now you're over-thinking. You've gone past post-truth and forward to fantasy.

[jont-]

Now go back and read the research about hands free phone use being just as dangerous as hand held

Research is always biased in favour of whoever is paying for it. I prefer to use my own brain. I understand that may present a challenge for some.

Ah, Silk is Michael Gove, AICMFP.

[ancient]

The research that I have read (which established hands-free as being as dangerous as hand held) used 'driving simulators' which were essentially a screen where a 'dot' had to be kept in the middle of a moving lane, whilst holding a conversation over a 'phone. Inattention to the questions on the 'phone, not correctly answering them or performing the mental exercises requested (remember a sequence of numbers, describe a picture etc) was marked as 'failure'. In other words, correctly prioritising the tasks in hand 'proved' the danger.

[Horse]

http://www.youthforroadsafety.org/uploa ... ooklet.pdf


The simulator study set out to investigate the impact of using facebook on a smartphone on driving performance.Facebook was selected for use in the study due to its popularity (there are around 30 million facebook users in the UK).

TRL designed a test drive which mimicked natural driving situations; participants were asked to drive on a motorway and a two-lane loop. At different stages they were asked to react to visual and audio stimuli by pressing the clutch pedal as quickly as possible. Participants were also asked to remain a safe distance behind the car in front which varied its speeds.

Twenty eight young male and female participants took part in the study; all had previous experience of using facebook via a smartphone. The participants completed one drive to familiarise themselves with the simulator, a control drive and a drive while using facebook. The order of the control drive and the drive using the smartphone was alternated between participants so that familiarisation with the route would not affect the results.

Participants were asked to send and check messages on facebook and update their statuses. Researchers monitored
their lane position, speed and reaction times. They also monitored the amount of time spent looking at the road, as
well as the ability to perform the smartphone task.

Simulator results
The results of the experiment clearly show that participants’ driving performance was impaired by the smartphone task.

There was a significant impact on:
• Time spent looking at the road
• Reaction times to stimuli
• Lane position
• Speed

When using facebook participants spent between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of their time looking down while using a smartphone to write or read messages, compared with about 10 per cent of the time looking down normally.

Reaction times to visual and auditory stimuli were found to increase by approximately 37.6 per cent when using a
smartphone to send and receive messages on facebook, and participants often missed events completely.

Participants using facebook were unable to maintain a central lane position and this resulted in an increased number of unintentional lane departures, they were also unable to respond as quickly to a lead vehicle gradually changing speed. There was a tendency to reduce speed to use the smartphone, however, this did not prevent driving performance from deteriorating.

These results suggest that participants’ driving was significantly impaired when they were using a smartphone while driving. The researchers concluded that three types of distraction affected driver behaviour; having to concentrate on the smartphone task (cognitive), holding the phone (physical), and the significant increase in time spent looking at the phone (visual) in order to interact with it.

[martine]

Excellent post Horse.

Sussex Uni has done some work in this field comparing hand-held with hands-free and found perhaps surprising similarities in the degradation of driver performance.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/35831

[akirk]

very interesting... but that is why we need to be more granular about how we understand and allow / punish various activities...

there is a world of difference between updating a facebook status on a mobile phone while driving - and a call coming in on my bluetooth connected mobile through the car system, my pressing a button on the steering wheel and then having a conversation...
I can keep my eyes on the road at all times, I can prioritise the activities such that I stop talking on the phone if the road needs more concentration etc.
That scenario is more akin to a conversation with the person next to me in the car... and is understandably legal

now go a step further - I press the screen on the phone to find the number to dial to enter the above scenario - logically there is far more distraction at that initial stage - but is it any different to the level of distraction in finding the number in the linked phone book on the screen in the car / adjusting settings in the car via a mouse or wheel or control panel (as you find in some cars) while driving? No it isn't, so why is one legal and the other not?

I would suggest it is entirely down to the fact that to be accurate in our legislation would mean banning drivers from operating a number of controls in a modern car while driving (possibly a good thing) and the phone usage is easy to target... that to me is the issue - the discrepancy, not the actual activity...

Alasdair

[jont-]

I can keep my eyes on the road at all times, I can prioritise the activities such that I stop talking on the phone if the road needs more concentration etc.
That scenario is more akin to a conversation with the person next to me in the car... and is understandably legal

No you don't and no it's not. Go and read the bloody research. People don't prioritize the road, they prioritize the conversation. The passenger is more likely to spot that you need to prioritise the road and stop talking.

[GTR1400MAN]

I was having this very argument the other evening.

Ergonomics.

Do we let car manufacturers set the level of driver distraction or do we really need better legislation to stop them adding ever more complex "must have" facilities to the onboard Infotainment systems? My opponent debater felt that as the manufacturers had gone to all the trouble and expense of providing inbuilt hands free, there was NO issue with using it at all. He'd based that on his quick calls he made, with no thougt of those who take part in conference calls, do phone banking, etc. while driving. Who says the manufacturer decides on what is and isn't allowed? (They've already screwed up big time with the lighting! ) Legislation is continually chasing its tail. Some more blanket rulings need to be put in place.

The public need protecting from themselves, and I'm no nanny state supporter. Just do a quick search on YouTube to see how many videos you can find with instructions on how to remove the 'in motion lockout' for onboard SatNavs and video players!

[Strangely Brown]

I can keep my eyes on the road at all times, I can prioritise the activities such that I stop talking on the phone if the road needs more concentration etc.
That scenario is more akin to a conversation with the person next to me in the car... and is understandably legal

No you don't and no it's not. Go and read the bloody research. People don't prioritize the road, they prioritize the conversation. The passenger is more likely to spot that you need to prioritise the road and stop talking.

Does your head hurt yet, Jon? Banging it against the wall tends to do that. Those who habitually use mobile phones in the car, whether hands-free or not, always think that they are different.

When I read Alasdair's comment above, my first reaction was, "did you read the previous post or are you just choosing to ignore it?"

I am very disappointed with some of the attitudes on display here. Well, not Silk; his is to be expected. But some of the others are a concern.

ETA: No phone call is that bloody important that it cannot wait until you stop. The world worked perfectly well before mobile phones and it won't stop just because you don't answer a call immediately.