This report discusses the existing literature concerning the effect of telephoning while driving on road safety. Telephone use in the car has increased dramatically in the Netherlands in recent years. The telecom industry expects that by the end of the year 2000, four million cellular telephones will be in use in the Netherlands; the percentage of hands-free installations is not known. Various studies show that telephoning whilst driving interferes with driving tasks and therefore has a negative effect on the performance of driving tasks. This concerns both hand-held and hands-free telephones, although hand-held equipment appears to have a greater negative effect on driving tasks than hands-free. On the basis of data now available, the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research concludes that using a mobile phone while driving a car is undesirable. This applies to all forms of telephone use and vehicle operation. Prohibiting the use of hand-held telephones while driving will benefit road safety. Upholding a legal ban on hand-held telephoning would be reasonably feasible; doing so for hands-free telephoning would be almost impossible. (A)
Abstract