The use of mobile phones while driving has become a road safety concern and has been the focus of various behavioural studies. This literature review analyses studies published in the period 1999-2005, and include simulator studies, closed-track studies and studies on the real road. Although studies differ with regard to the extent of behavioural changes found, most of them confirmed the fact that using a mobile phone while driving negatively affects various aspects of driver performance. The following effects have been demonstrated: slower reactions to traffic signals and more frequently missed signals; slower braking reactions with more intensive braking and shorter stopping distances; reduced general awareness of other traffic; more risks in decision making; and compensatory behaviour. The vast majority of studies report that hands-free phoning does not have a significant safety advantage over handheld phoning. Although handheld units add to the driving task due to the need for manipulation, the most important negative factor of mobile phone use is the same for both types of phone, namely: the diversion of attention from driving to the conversation itself. In order to better determine, control and reduce the effects of mobile phone use on road safety, this report concludes with a number of recommendations, for instance: (1) Identify the extent of drivers' use of mobile phones more precisely in order to generate more exact data on the risk of mobile phone use while driving; and (2) record mobile phone use in accident reports in order to produce a truer estimate of the number of mobile phone crashes in the total number of crashes.
Samenvatting