Student Drivers -- Especially Males -- Think Hands-free Cell Phones are Safer

September 8, 2009

(PhysOrg.com) -- Driver education classes should be teaching young drivers that all kinds of mobile phones, both conventional and hands-free, are a dangerous distraction, says a University at Buffalo researcher, who studies driving behaviors.

"Neither type of cell phone -- either a handset or hands-free phone -- is safe, according to transportation research, but unfortunately this message isn't reaching many young ," says Changxu Wu, Ph.D., assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Recent research co-authored by Wu reveals just how unaware some are about the dangers of hands-free cell phone use while . In a study of 164 student drivers in China, ages 18-35, nearly half said that they intended to use a hands-free instead of a handheld phone because they assumed that it was the safer choice.

And because young male drivers (ages 17-24) in the study appeared to be more likely than young female drivers to use hands-free cell phones (male drivers perceived about 20 percent less risk of using hands-free phones than female drivers, according to study results), Wu says it would be appropriate for young males to receive more instruction on this issue than females.

While the study, published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour (May, 2009), did not address the issue of texting and driving, Wu says the results imply that all of these dangerous driving behaviors must be far more thoroughly addressed by driver education than is now being done.

Although the study was conducted on Chinese students attending driver education classes in Beijing, the researchers say that the findings are completely applicable to drivers in general, including those in the U.S.

According to Wu, research has shown that when the brain is called upon to perform two different tasks at once, there is a marked difference in the amplitude of brain wave function; if the brain perceives a high workload, he explains, it will delay the processing of certain messages.

"That's what the brain does to manage the workload," says Wu, "and that's what causes drivers to get distracted from concentrating on the road."

He adds that even dialing a number while driving is causing a higher mental workload.

"So if dialing itself causes a high workload, then driving while texting will produce an even higher - and more distracting - workload," says Wu.

But while student drivers have apparently gotten the message that it is dangerous to use handheld cell phones while driving, they falsely assume that hands-free cell phones are safe.

Wu added that that perception may also be prevalent in the general population.

"Driver education classes must begin to address this discrepancy, by instructing students that even hands-free phones affect driver behavior," says Wu.

Wu notes that it may be easier to address the phone issue in China, where driver education classes are mandatory for all drivers, than in the U.S. where such classes are optional.

Co-authors on the study with Wu are Ronggang Zhou of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Pei-Luen Patrick Rau and Wei Zhang of Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Provided by University at Buffalo (news : web)


Rank 4 /5 (1 vote)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Can I forget a language?
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • The Biggest Lie Ever
    createdFeb 09, 2012
  • What are the limits of learning?
    createdFeb 06, 2012
  • Isn't that grammatically wrong?
    createdFeb 06, 2012
  • What does it mean when traders are indifferent?
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Peak of Our Civilization
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Social Sciences

More news stories

A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 11 | with audio podcast report

US workers are 'giving away the store,' costing firms billions

Nearly 70 percent of the nation's service employees give away free goods and services – from hamburgers to cable TV – costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.

Other Sciences / Economics & Business

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (5) | comments 11

Employers feel no love for unscrupulous practice of 'service sweethearting'

A new study led by two Florida State University marketing professors finds that some frontline service employees who are rewarded for hikes in customer loyalty and satisfaction also may engage in "service ...

Other Sciences / Economics & Business

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 10

New insights into how to correct false knowledge

The abundance of false information available on the Internet, in movies and on TV has created a big challenge for educators.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Neanderthal demise due to many influences, including cultural changes: study

As an ice age crept upon them thousands of years ago, Neanderthals and modern human ancestors expanded their territory ranges across Asia and Europe to adapt to the changing environment.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 8 | with audio podcast


Japan's Fukushima reactor may be reheating: operator

Temperature readings at one of the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors have risen above Japan's stringent new safety standard but there was no immediate danger, its operator said Sunday.

Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...

Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell

Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...

Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact

Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.