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People who talk on cell phones while driving are as impaired as drunken drivers, even if they use hands-free devices, according to researchers at the University of Utah, USA. The researchers strongly recommend that legislators should consider banning cell phone use while driving. The researchers studied 40 volunteers, using a driving simulator, in four different conditions; while undistracted, using a handheld cell phone, using a hands-free cell phone and while intoxicated to a 0.08% blood-alcohol level, which is the average legal level of impairment in the U.S. The researchers have published their research in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. According to the study, three participants rear-ended the simulated car in front of them, while talking on cell phones. None was drunk at the time, the researchers said. Motorists who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly more slowly, but were also 9% slower to hit the brakes, and varied their speed more than undistracted drivers. Drivers with an 0.08% blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and telephone users, yet more aggressively. According to researchers, alcohol was involved in 40% of the 42,000 annual U.S. traffic fatalities, he said. The researchers found that same as many people who have been drinking, cell phone users too did not believe themselves to be affected.
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