Talking and driving adding to your commute?
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Many of you know me as the big scrooge — the guy who abhors people talking on their phones and driving. Some thing I should “lighten up” on the issue, but the fact is that it’s simply not safe. And while we like to live on the envelope of life, needlessly putting others in harm’s way is never a good idea. Hence, we don’t like the use of handsets while driving. A new study shows that not only does talking on your phone make you a worse driver, but it actually adds up to 20 hours a year to your commute. So much for saving time while talking and driving.
The study showed many trends among drive-talkers. Interestingly, talking while driving actually slows you down on average of two miles per hour. While this is good for some of us, it adds up to longer commute times for others. In heavy traffic, it can take a drive-talker three percent longer to reach his or her destination, two percent longer in medium traffic.
Hate tailgaters? Drive-talkers reportedly more likely to tailgate, and will change lanes — the smart alternative — 20 percent less.
Why? According to the conductor of the research, David Strayer, psychology professor at the University of Utah, it’s that the brain is overloaded and cannot process all of the tasks at hand. This slows down reactions and makes drivers distracted.
Of course, the study shouldn’t be taken at face value. He used 36 students in simulators, which is a far stretch from adults driving on real roads. There was also no mention of whether the subjects were using handsets or headsets.
“We found that when people are on the phone, the amount of information they are taking in is significantly reduced… People were missing things, like cars swerving in front or sudden lane changes. We had at least three rear-end collisions,” Strayer said.
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