Study: Cell phones while driving

Feb 01 2005 - 03:09 PM ET | In The News

A new study published in the new issue of Human Factors covers the affect of cell phones on drivers. bq. “If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone. It’s like instantly aging a large number of drivers,” says David Strayer, a University of Utah psychology professor and principal author of the study. David Strayer has studied cell phones before, he's well known for research that shows hands free devices do little to make driving while talking on a phone safer. His research has also pointed to the fact that drivers talking on cell phones have worse reaction times than legally drunk drivers not talking on cell phones.

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