'No link' between motorists speaking on mobile phones and having collisions

The use of stats seems pretty selective to me, designed to "prove" a point.

Firstly, as suggested earlier, the increase in the number of calls passing from one cell mast to another is not a clear indicator of phoning while driving. The calls could be made by passengers in buses or trains, as well as passengers in cars, not just by drivers.

Secondly, while the time watershed might be significant in terms of US phone company charging policies, it has no particular significance to driving times, but one has to assume that the level of traffic has fallen significantly by that time of night - it will have peaked around 5-7pm with the evening rush hour.

So if the number of incidents has stayed the same, the RATE of incident has probably increased markedly.

Read the statement carefully - "mobile phone conversations using several cell masts" in other words mobile phones in use by a person travelling in a vehicle, such that it links between a string of cell reception areas during the call.

Nowhere has the research any concrete evidence that the mobile phones are in use in a car and equally that they driver of the car is using the phone, they have assumed that detail to secure a sensational volte face headline. How many of those mobile phone conversations might have been made by passengers on trains, coaches, and in cars.

Shameful that it is put up as research that LSE puts its name to. Carnegie Mellon University - I don't know enough about, but the name ...

"We were only looking at talking, not texting or internet use. And it may be that the traffic conditions on the road at that time [9pm] are such that moderate use of cellphones does not present a hazard."

Well that kind of sais it all. Talking on the phone is only less likely to be an issue if there are less people to crash into. So this report is a total waste of time and money, total numpties. Cherry picking the conditions to get the desired results.

how absolutely ridiculous, of course there's a link, speaking on the phone and even worse - texting - is a major distraction to any driver! Isn't this common sense?

Well, mobile phone use by a car driver has been a contributary factor in at least 50% of my collisions with cars, perhaps they are looking at the statistics the wrong way around?

If using a mobile while driving has no effect on the number of collisions then perhaps the study simply highlights the terrible standard of driving in the US?

Severely flawed? To paraphrase Wolfgang Pauli, it's not even wrong. It's worse than not even wrong, it's dangerously not even wrong, and could lead to some road users using this unscientific drivel as justification for using their mobile on the road.

You may note the neutral term "road users" - I've seen cyclists as well as drivers with phones clamped to their ears. Both completely moronic, the former borderline suicidal, the latter potentially lethal.

That article and research is severely flawed. I was dismayed when I read it.

There was a program on the TV about about 2, 3 years ago regarding how mobile phones affect concentration and motor function. The programme showed a very highly rated traffic Police officer trained in the most advanced driving standards being put through tests where he had to negotiate a course of cones swiftly and accurately. First he did it with full concentration and did a perfect run. Then he did it again with a researcher in the passenger seat asking him to do simple arithmetic like 6+9, 7x6, 23+42. This time he hit cones and was much slower. And he wasn't holding a phone up at his ear with one hand either.

This is because two different parts of the brain are required for those separate functions - one to drive, one to perform the arithmetic. What happens is the brain splits it "computing skills" if you will, so each task get less brain power. That leads to mistakes.

Using a phone whilst driving has the same effect as the above, and its exactly the same effect as this: You are driving and you get lost, or dont really know where you are going, or you are driving in a new area looking for a house or shop, building, etc. The radio/CD player is blurting out music but not loud, just as you usually have it set when you drive in familiar areas. What do you do? You turn the music down so you can *concentrate* more on the task in hand. I guarantee you as a driver you have done this at some point. The key word there was concentrate.

Using a phone whilst driving and having a conversation as opposed to answering a call and saying, "Hello luv, I'll be about an hour late, I'm driving. See ya later" affects the part of the brain that allows you to focus and concentrate on your driving. It really does lessen your awareness of whats going on around your vehicle and will contribute to the risk of causing a collision and risk of injury or death. Don't do it.

I could write about many, many holes in that flawed, ridiculous research, but its beyond the scope of this post. I do wonder who sponsored the research though...

I think declaring this, very selective, study as showing "no link" is pretty bad science reporting. But that's what we've come to expect from the media these days. To say "lots more people are using phones in moving vehicles but accident rates haven't increased" is crap. Are the people using the phones even the drivers?

Actual studies of reactions and ability show that even using a hands-free phone while driving is roughly the same as being twice the drink-drive limit. (Yes, I realise the irony of not having a citation there but it was in an old issue of New Scientist that's probably in the loft)

i think the key part of the study is that they are looking at after 9pm.

If you use a mobile in rush hour traffic i think the risk is very different to using it on clear roads at 3am.

There's one factor not included in this article which might be relevant. The researchers "examined data before and after 9pm local time over a three-year period." "The timeslot was chosen because during the period studied (2002 - 2005) many American mobile phone operators offered free calls after 9pm during the week." Which is why the reference to 9pm quoted in the article. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23631406.

And there is no link whatsoever between guns and people getting shot either.

I think this survey is more accurate

http://www.iam.org.uk/media-and-research/research/reports/20279-dont-pok...

"Between 2006 and 2010 distraction from mobile phones was a contributory factor in 1,690 road accidents which resulted in injuries; this figure includes 110 fatal accidents."

Mobile phone use has been demonstrated to make reaction times slower and reduce awareness when driving.

I'm surprised, since my personal experience is that a large proportion of near misses (when I'm either driving a car or cycling) occur when the other party seems to be using a mobile phone. But its possible that when cognitive load drops (because the roads are less busy) there is 'room' for the distraction of a mobile phone conversation. Basically the problem with phone conversations is they can vary in cognitive demand, which can overwhelm a driver if the traffic conditions are complex, or the are driving at speed. I suppose that the distraction of a phone call only becomes a problem when a driver needs all his resources to deal with a sudden and unexpected event on the road... But no one expects the unexpected

Using handsfree mobile phones (which is of course still legal for road users) does not usually involve a visual distraction. I think the increasing gadgetry in cars, satnavs, media devices, even web surfing is even more dangerous as it usually does involve visual distractions... You can text without looking, but it still takes one hand away from the controls, and many people do actually need to glance at the screen. Again as a cyclist I often realise I am not seen because I can see the driver staring at the dashboard and driving one handed...

Well I too have seen cyclists using non-handsfree mobile phones, and texting, whilst cycling. An out of control person on a bike isn't anywhere like as dangerous as an out of control driver, but still something that shouldn't happen...

I hate texting cyclists, got full roads of them here, cyclists are the worst.