While it is no secret that driving while talking on the phone is a distraction that can lead to accidents and other driving mishaps, researchers analyzing recent studies on the topic believe that the updated data provides even more compelling evidence of the dangers, and thus a platform, for governments looking to enact legislation to restrict drivers’ cell phone use.

The review, which is published in Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, is titled "Does Talking on a Cell Phone, With a Passenger, or Dialing Affect Driving Performance? An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Experimental Studies."

With the amount of available data on the topic of driving and cell phone use now triple what it was a decade ago, the team of researchers led by Jeff Caird, a professor in psychology and community health sciences at the University of Calgary, examined the updated data to see if it reflected earlier conclusions about the dangers of driving and cell phone use.

Focusing on factors such as drivers’ reaction time to hazards or emergencies, lane positioning, eye movements, speed, collision and stimulus detection, researchers determined that the latest data upheld the findings of older data, concluding that speaking on handheld and hand’s free phones had a negative impact on driving. Similarly, data about the hazards of dialing while driving and talking to a passenger while driving also held up.

"Driving is a distraction from everyday distractions such as cell phones," Caird notes. "The technological solution of driverless vehicles will allow us to get back to our preferred distractions. Until then..."

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