Hands-free phones add to road congestion

There have been fresh calls to ban employees from using hands-free phones while driving following new research from the US that reveals chatting drivers could increase traffic congestion.

The research found that motorists talking on mobile phones while driving on dual carriageways and motorways were slower and less likely to overtake.

Dave Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, explained that the average person’s commute is longer because of the person who is on the phone in front of them.

Joel Cooper, a doctoral student in psychology, added that if a person talks on the phone while driving, it’s going to take them longer to get from A to B, and slows down everybody else on the road.

The findings back previous research that using a hands-free phone is as dangerous while driving as using a hand-held device because it is the conversation itself that is the major distraction.

Earlier studies also found that mobile phone users followed at greater distances, were slower to brake and to regain speed after braking.

Strayer went on to say that it was important to show how mobile phone use affects traffic.

He added that when people have tried to do cost-benefit analyses on whether mobile phones should be regulated, they don’t factor in the cost associated with increased commuting times, excess fuel used by stop-and-go traffic and increased air pollution.