Has there ever been a study to show if regular conversation in cars increases accidents?

[Quixote1818]

It's one thing to have a study where those with cell phones are yakking away, while those without them can concentrate on driving 100%. That is not a fair comparison and will give a very one sided outcome on the test. An important variable in such a study would be checking how people drive when they are in an interesting conversation with the person next to them. I know for a fact that friends tend to miss turns and then make a risky move because they are immersed in a regular conversation with the person in the passenger seat or someplace else in the car.

I think dialing on a cell phone is certainly dangerous however I really don't see ANY difference from someone engaging in an interesting conversation in the car or on a cell phone while driving. They both seem equally more dangerous than driving alone with no distractions.

If someone could point out a study and show the impacts of regular conversation to safety in cars I would be more inclined to believe that study as opposed to a study that compares someone driving alone to someone talking on a cell phone without the other variables.

[Lex]

1. Eating while driving is as dangerous as talking on a cell phone.

I read that once, but don't have a link.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Driving while holding hot coffee between your legs

is also dangerous. I don't have a link either, but I seem to remember McDonald's got sued over it. Now there are disclaimers printed on fast-food coffee cups. Unfortunately, you have to turn the cup sideways to read the warning. But then it's too late, a classic catch-22.

Driving while holding a cold beer between your legs is nowhere near as dangerous. Shrinkage being preferable to searage.

Drive safely.

[MonkeyFunk]

2. Yes

I've seen reports that show conversations with somebody in the car is MUCH safer than talking on a cell phone, largely because the passenger is also watching traffic, looing for red lights, etc. They tend to stop talking when they realize the driver's attention is needed on the road.

Talking on the phone puts the driver in "another space", mentally, and of course, the person with whom they're conversing can't see that big truck in front of you.

[Quixote1818]

4. Thats a good point

I have almost been in several accidents with friends because of exactly what you said. Someone points out they are missing the turn then they slam on their breaks and veer quickly onto the off ramp sometimes almost killing everyone. Had no one pointed out they were going to miss the turn they would have just kept on driving and figured it out later. I also find that others in the car can often get on the drivers nerves if they keep pointing out lights and other things. Then the driver gets irritated and angry which is a very dangerous state of mind for someone to be driving in. So it can work both ways.

You do bring up a good point though and I can see how in many instances others in the car might also prevent an accident.


Do you have a link to that study? I would like to see all the variables in it and who put it out.

[barb162]

3. I think any distraction increases accidents

Eating, cellphone, gabbing with passengers, putting on makeup, reading, shaving, etc. If you aren't giving full attention to the road, you increase accidents.

[Richard Steele]

5. Possibly....but not FRAMED exactly as you ask the question.

Some US States already have specific restrictions on TEEN drivers
with PASSENGERS...

The reason for these: statistical studies show they
are as "safe" as anyone when driving ALONE, but have
severely increased accident rates when they have other
teens in the car.

Perhaps you could find a few of these studies, and see
if they are applicable to this question?

[Liberal In Texas]

6. Well, I found this with about 10 seconds of googling...

Many car accidents are caused by people talking to other passengers while driving, and others due to drivers playing with the radio while driving. A large percentage is because of eating or drinking while driving, and 25% of car accidents are caused due to talking on the mobile phone while at the wheel of the car. These car accident statistics are sad enough on their own, the saddest part being that they could have easily been avoided had drivers been paying more attention to driving and less to other activities.

Stats or studies? Google about another 3 minutes.

[goodgd_yall]

7. Cell phones are targeted because...

Well my theory is that, for some people, it's a matter of projection and resentment. Some people perceive cell phone users as more educated, more monied, more something than themselves, whatever---c.p. users have become the target of a certain population's projections.

There ARE a lot of things that are just as possibly accident-producing: conversation, as you said, switching stations, trying to read street signs when you're unfamiliar with a place, but none of these have the image problem that unrestricted cell phone users do. I know this from experience. There's a certain disdain some people show when they see someone talking on a cell phone in public, in a car, in an airport, restaurant, etc, etc, etc.

[KT2000]

8. Can't agree with that

Have you ever really watched someone talking on the phone while doing anything?
For some reason, people become oblivious to their surroundings while on the phone.

Try talking to someone while they are on the phone. See what happens.
I have seen people driving 10-15 mph under the speed limit.
I see people nearly rear-ending others.
I regularly see drivers with their heads way back as they look down at the road in front of them - definately not defensive driving posture. Their driving perspective is minimal.
I see people clogging store aisles completely oblivious to others.

Guess I have that disdain thing - it is rude, careless and unsafe.

[frustrated_lefty]

11. That's a nice masturbatory, ego-inflating conception.

Cell phones are cheaper than landlines these days. You can't ride public transit without a cell phone going off every few minutes. And, the conversations, far from being educated, tend to drone on about the most trivial of things. "Where do you want to go to lunch?" "What did you do last night?" All, of course, punctuated by periodic queries shaped in the form of "huh?" and "what?"

Your typical cell phone junkie is basically rude, inconsiderate and utterly oblivious. Fortunately, Darwinian logic suggests the lot of you will exterminate yourselves within a matter of generations. I'm just curious to see if it's going to be the cell phone junkie or the saggy britches wearing fool which dies out first.

[elocs]

9. I am wondering how talking with a hands-free cellphone differs

from having a conversation with a passenger aside from the temptation of looking at the passenger while talking, thereby taking your eyes off the road.

[frustrated_lefty]

10. One difference I've observed is that a person you're conversing

with in your car tends to be more likely to point out surrounding hazards, turn lanes, stop signs, crazy drivers. Because they're in the same vehicle, they tend to be more aware of the immediate circumstances and also know when to shut up, or even offer advice....you know, "you're clear to shift lanes."

[annabanana]

14. Bingo! An "in-person" conversation is subject to the road. .

When you're chatting with your friend in the seat next to you and some bozo suddenly runs a Stop Sign in front of you. . . . BOTH of you are going to shut-up and hang on.

[elocs]

20. A second set of eyes does make sense.

I wonder if the risk of conversing with a passenger has been studied as well as being a driving distraction.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

17. Hands-free is not as easy for the cop to spot

So not as easy to issue a ticket for it. No law against singing with the radio or muttering at fellow drivers.

But as far as having your head somewhere other than the road, it seems the same from my experience.

Outlawing driving with hand-held phones seems like a way of letting the wealthier off. Handhelds are generally cheaper. Folks with money will pay for the hands-free equipment, bluetooth etc.

[Quixote1818]

12. In response to my origional OP. I was wrong and here are the stats

Drivers themselves admit dialing a cell phone is the biggest distraction in the car, according to a study by Westlake Village, Calif.-based J.D. Power and Associates. In a survey of nearly 13,000 drivers, 64 percent say dialing a phone is more distracting than eating, drinking or tuning the radio. But that doesn't give you the green light to chat away once you've dialed: Researchers at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City observed 48 adults behind the wheel of a driving simulator and found that drivers who were talking on the phone--even with headsets--missed four times as many exits as drivers talking to a passenger. (The researchers observed that unlike a person on the other end of a cell phone, a passenger collaborates on the task of driving safely by referring to traffic and conversing about it.) In fact, a separate University of Utah study found 18- to 25-year-olds who drive while talking on cell phones had the same reaction times as 65- to 74-year-olds not using phones. If you absolutely must make that call, your best bet is to pull over.


Link: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0846/is_9_24/ai_n13661385

[no_hypocrisy]

13. I believe the variable that makes the driver prone to an accident is taking his/her eyes off the

road, whether it be looking to dial a number, change the station on the radio, insert a CD or tape, or to look at a passenger in the midst of a conversation.

Can't cite a study although I remember the above problem being cited by auto insurance studies.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Voice dialing can be more challenging

Voice response dialing is a help if it's a pre-programmed number with a code-word, like "home" or "pizza joint". Voice response dialing of a phone number is a giant pain, more distracting than punching in a number by "feel", or even by glancing at the phone.

Freeway rules that I've observed: 45mph to dial, 65mph to talk, 80mph after you hang up. Do all this in the far left lane. Ignore other drivers, they're just jealous 'cause you have a phone.

[gollygee]

15. You don't have to pay as much attention to someone who is in the car with you

they can see what you're doing and how much attention you can give them moment by moment, and repeat themselves and/or wait till you can pay attention. People do that naturally in live conversations.

[bettyellen]

19. wow, i guess you'll have to find something else to compare to drunk driving now..

is it your life's mission now to prove it's not so bad to drink and drive?
fucking sad, that.