Why one should not use mobile while driving?

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Why one should not use mobile phone while driving?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stated that some form of driver distraction is a contributing factor in 20 to 30 percent of all crashes. A recent NHTSA survey found that nearly 75 percent of drivers reported using their phone while driving.

A study conducted by National Safety Council, USA, in the year 2002, explains how cell phone conversations while driving become a potentially dangerous distraction. The study shows that conversing on cell phones while driving disrupts the driver's attention to the visual environment, leading to what the authors call "inattention blindness", or the inability to recognize objects encountered in the driver's visual field.

Cell phone conversations create much higher levels of driver distractions than listening to the radio or audio. The new study suggest that even when participants are directing their gaze at objects in the driving environment, they may fail to "see" them when they are using a cell phone because attention is directed elsewhere. The data also suggests that legislative initiatives that restrict hand-held devices but permit hands-free devices are not likely to eliminate the problems associated with using cell phones while driving. The problems are attributed in large part to the distracting effects of the phone conversations themselves, which direct attention away from the external environment and towards an internal, cognitive context associated with the phone conversation.

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HN Khimani

Safety Officer

IPR