Don’t Drink And Drive? No! Don't Listen And Drive!
From the The cell phones are bad department
By: Sci/Tech News Staff


Almost 100 students took experiments in which they drove virtual cars. While driving they had to provide answers about the layout of buildings on their campus, or check that statements made by others about relative positions of building were correct. The researchers
monitored various aspects of their driving performance while they performed these tasks.

Before this research the expectation was that speaking would be more detrimental than listening, because speaking is often thought to be a more complex task. "Unexpectedly we found that speaking and listening had very similar detrimental effects," says lead author Tate Kubose, a postdoctoral fellow working in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois. "These results challenge the widespread presumption that production is harder than comprehension, and the expectation that talking while driving is necessarily more disruptive than listening," says Dr Kubose.

They showed that both speaking and listening had detrimental effects on driving. Participants were poorer at maintaining a stable speed, or keeping a constant distance between themselves and other traffic than when only driving. Paradoxically, there was some indication that when drivers had to speak while driving, their lane control increased even though speed control decreased.

These results support the growing body of data suggesting that it is the cognitive task of conversing via phone, in addition to the physical task of handling the equipment, that impedes a person's ability to drive safely.


27th of August 2005, 14:48 GMT | Copyright © 2005 Softpedia

Well I can tell you that when I'm talking on a phone (hands free) and driving I slow down a bit. I can tell that my concentration is worse.

The same for me.

I think listening takes more concentration than speaking. When you speak, you have an "idea" and you say it. Nevertheless, you have it, it's clear, only a small effort to let it out. When you're listening, you have to recompose the other's ideas, which is generally a much bigger effort. Add the additional noise since you're in a car, in some cases the poor connection making it difficult to hear the other and so on.

I'm surprised they had to make a study for this, but anyhow...the result is not surprising, despite the "general expectation".

Yeah, same for me even when I'm driving my Passat which is an automatic I realize that I'm not as concentrated as I am when I'm not talking on the phone. But I guess it's a little easier on the highway where your just going straight the whole time and from time to time you change lanes or have to take an exit, but still even then its hard because you might be on the 1st lane for a long time and not realize it and there are some angry people behind you. I'm not going to say that's it's even harder when im driving my Berlina because then you have to change gears. And I try to use hands-free most of the time.

I am talking through handsfree about 40% of my driving time (that's my job), but I feel ok, don't have to reduce my driving speed at all.

Spare a fender, save a tree, give your sober friend the key....

Remember Guys,

If you drink, don't park: Accidents cause people!!

They're picking up the pieces with a shovel and a rake,
because he grasped a silken stocking,
When he should have grasped the brake!!
Anon.

I think you shouldn't even argue and drive! My father and I once did that and he very nearly ran a red light. I pushed his leg on the brake and the car stopped in time luckily.

It is true. You can lose concentration when you listen to someone, not to mention arguing.

NOW THAT SOUNDS to be a fairytale !!!! You pushed his leg and stopped the car
first of all you would have to PULL his leg off the Gas Pedal and move it onto the brake and then make him brake ALL in a split second
Come back with a better story mate
Stu

There shouldn't be such a big fuss about this matter, for these facts are known for at least several decades; there were signs in the public transportation means prohibiting conversations with the drivers at least as early as 30 years ago in Romania, for what I know.
It's obvious that driving is a challenging task that doesn't get easier with any distraction.
I see a similar trend of studies telling us that mobile phones and wlan devices are a liability for our health, although even my grandpa knew that any EMF is more or less harmful for us.
Some still believe in radiation hormesis and homoeopathy. I digress, but the general idea is that reconfirming again and again known facts it's a waste of time; it won't stop the average Joe from self destructing. No offence for those who really need to use the phone while driving.