| Literally hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. | | | | looking at. That leaves them almost blind to traffic |
| subscribe to a wireless communications service as | | | | situations, surprisingly even worse than drunk |
| of October 2008. That includes everything from | | | | drivers are. |
| home wireless Internet networks to cell phones. | | | | Driving while talking on the phone is like putting on |
| Of those hundreds of millions of people, many | | | | a blindfold and hoping for the best. |
| think using a cell phone while driving is harmless. | | | | As soon as you throw a somewhat involved |
| They're wrong. | | | | driving maneuver into the mix, like merging on the |
| Back in 2005, University of Utah psychology | | | | highway or passing on a two-lane road, you have |
| professor David Strayer did a study which | | | | a recipe for an accident. |
| showed the effects of cell phone usage on | | | | This is not new information. Earlier studies, by the |
| 20-year-old drivers-it ages them. Their reaction | | | | New England Journal of Medicine and others, |
| times drop to those of 70-year-old drivers. Odds | | | | showed remarkable increases in accident rates |
| are good that other age groups show similar | | | | among people who talk on the phone while they |
| degradation of reaction times, as the study's | | | | drive. |
| finding for people aged 65 to 74 demonstrate. | | | | States are slow to ban the practice, which leave |
| This helps to account for the commuter traffic | | | | other motorists vulnerable to drivers who are not |
| snarl in major cities in the U.S. As reaction times | | | | paying attention to the road. |
| slow, drivers are prone to take longer to regain | | | | Ultimately, though, legislation won't solve the |
| speed after they brake (17 percent longer, | | | | problem. Perhaps studies will show (or have |
| according to the Human Factors and Ergonomic | | | | shown) that fiddling with the radio causes |
| Society, which published Strayer's study). In other | | | | accidents. Or maybe adjusting a mirror degrades |
| words, drivers distracted by cell phone get in the | | | | reaction time. Our brains are miracles, but they |
| way. | | | | really are not good at "multitasking." When we are |
| That is annoying, but that's all it is. The real | | | | working on one thing, our brains are occupied. And |
| problem is when annoying becomes dangerous. | | | | that one thing when we're behind the wheel |
| Cell phone distraction while driving kills over 2,500 | | | | should be driving. |
| people per year, and injures over 330,000. This is | | | | Using a cell phone while driving is an irresponsible |
| understandable. | | | | choice. Most Americans value freedom, and like |
| Strayer's previous work showed what cell phones | | | | the idea that they are free to make such choices. |
| do to the driver's brain. When they are talking on | | | | But with freedom comes responsibility. It's clear |
| the phone, even if it is a hands-free device, their | | | | we're collectively not exercising much. |
| brain is not really seeing what their eyes are | | | | |