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New research from the University of Utah has
revealed a
potentially lethal "tunnel vision" that drivers
get while talking
on a cellphone.
Researchers found that drivers using
cellphones, even hands-
free devices, aren't processing peripheral
vision well. The
scientists studied twenty volunteers who used a
driving
simulator to experience all sorts of
distractions, from cars
suddenly swerving to a stoplight changing. In
one test, a driver
on a phone and one focused solely on the road
were shown the
same series of billboards. The driver not
yakking remembered
seeing 50 percent more billboards than the
driver on the phone,
the study found.
Associate professor David Strayer said this
is "inattention
blindness," an impairment that slows reaction
time by 20
percent and made some drive-and-dial
practitioners miss half
the red lights they were suddenly presented with
in some
simulations.
"We found that when people are on the phone,
the amount of
information they are taking in is significantly
reduced," he said
of the study, the results of which will be
published in the March
edition of the American Psychology Association's
Journal of
Experimental Society: Applied. "People were
missing things, like
cars swerving in front or sudden lane changes.
We had at least
three rear-end collisions."
The study is among many investigations into
the effects of
driving and using a cellphone. Most have shown
some
impairment. New York is the only state with laws
punishing
those who drive while talking on a handheld
cellphone. Thirty
states, though, have legislation pending.
Another study from General Motors and Wayne
State
University is investigating how much emotion has
to do with it.
Researchers from GM and the university's medical
school will
use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with
virtual reality
driving simulations for the first time.
The Utah study differed from others because
it didn't study
the distractions of dialing or holding a phone.
Instead, it tried to
focus solely on the distractions of having a
conversation,
Strayer said.
"Most people's knee-jerk reaction is that
the cellphone is
held, and there is clearly a distraction
involved in that," he said.