Study: Drivers on Cell Phones Slow You Down

Jan 03, 07:26 AM

By Seth Borenstein

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Drivers talking on cell phones are probably making your commute longer, concludes a new study .

Motorists yakking away, even with hands-free 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.

If you commute by car an hour a day, it could add about 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 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 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. Strayer figures distracted drivers are adding an extra 5 to 10 percent of time to your commute.

It's a matter of brain overload. Your frontal cortex can handle only so many tasks at one time, so you slow down, Strayer said.

how slow?

According to studies, distracted drivers tend to drive slower. Motorists talking on cell phones drive about 2 mph slower in heavy traffic, one study says.

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