Cell Phone Users Are More Distracted When Driving, even when not using phone.

Dalls Morning News ^ | July 1, 2003 | PR NewsWire

[FairOpinion]

MERIDEN, Conn., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- According to an analysis by Response Insurance of their national driving survey, people who use cell phones when driving are more likely to be distracted from the road even when they are not talking on a phone. The results indicate there may be a "distracted-driver personality" type behind the wheel. The Response Insurance National Driving Distractions Survey compared attentiveness of cell phone users to non-users when not talking on a phone. When asked a series of questions about different topics that might take their attention from the road, people who use cell phones were significantly more likely to be distracted when thinking about every-day issues and concerns than drivers who do not use cell phones while driving. When compared to drivers who do not talk on cell phones, drivers who use cell phones are 56% more likely to be distracted behind the wheel while thinking about what to eat; 36% more likely to be distracted thinking about relationship issues; 32% more likely to be distracted when thinking about their jobs; 27% more likely to be distracted when thinking about health concerns; 21% more likely to be distracted when thinking about family issues, and 19% more likely to be distracted when thinking about money issues or bills. If, as the survey indicates, certain people are more likely to be distracted behind the wheel, recent attention to cell phone use may be missing the larger problem of driver inattention. "From the time we issued our first survey, we said that cell phones were only one part of a societal trend of multi-tasking while driving and a general lack of attention to the road," said Mory Katz, Chairman of Response Insurance. "Our analysis points to what could be a chronic inattentiveness problem for a specific group of drivers. We hope this information sets the stage for additional research and much more driver education in this area."

Source: Response Insurance Response Insurance is a direct-to-the customer auto insurance company that sponsored the survey that launched the national debate on driving distractions and cell phone use. That 1999 survey provided the first detailed and scientific look at the distracting nature of various activities and their likelihood of contributing to accidents.

About the Survey Analysis: This new analysis is based on a statistically valid survey that included 1,046 interviews conducted among a nationally representative sample of adults 18 years of age and included 525 drivers who use cell phones and 420 non- users. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. The survey was sponsored by Response Insurance in 2001, developed with Leflein Associates, and fielded by Opinion Research Corporation International. The analysis was conducted June 2003.

Contact: Ray Palermo Response Insurance 500 South Broad Street Meriden CT 06450 Toll Free Tel: 888-288-6080, Ext. 7251 E-mail: rpalermo@response.com Off-hour Pager: 1-800-759-8888 / PIN: 1196453

[FairOpinion]

It's not just the training, it's DISCIPLINE, RESPONSIBILITY, and COMMON SENSE, words which are hardly ever used anymore, and rarely really understood.

[Freedom4US]

Well, your points are the flip side of driving in the US. In europe, for example, getting a drivers license is pricey, say, $1200. They give instruction on high speed driving (autobahn) night driving, city driving, etc. Those deemed to have substandard skills do not pass. The written test isn't easy, either. I estimate just over half of US drivers would pass the written test alone.

[bill3foot]

In some respect I agree, however people I've known for years to be great drivers become total idiots behind the wheel when their on the cell.
I must admit,I also have made errors while driving because I was on the phone, no wrecks just stuff like driving way to slow or sitting to long at a red light you know common cell phone infractions. I am man enough to admit it, I wish others would accept the fact it is a distraction and a law were in place or at least a law for hands free or something.
IMO

[cspackler]

I'm sorry, but this is has to be one of the most ludicrous articles that I've ever read. Why not just say "Magazine Readers Are More Distracted When On the Toilet, even when not reading a magazine"? I agree that using the phone while driving is not a good idea (actually, it's just the actual dialing part that is the most dangerous, IMO), but this is just laughable.

[FairOpinion]

What is laughable is that they are treating it as a great revelation, that some people are more distracted than others, while driving, whether or not they are engaging in phone conversation, and cell phones are NOT the culprit that "makes" people distracted.

[Publius6961]

BUMP