Cell Phones and Driving Put Us All In the Slow Lane — DAve’s Diary

Earlier this week we shared the results of six year California study that seemed to indicate banning cell phones didn't appear to make the roads safer.  But Wait, there's more!

Even if you aren't any safer, you'll still get there faster if you and everyone else on the road put down their phones!

A recent study reveals the more drivers yak on their cell phones, the longer it takes you to get where you're going because distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions.

People on cell phones, even hands free ones, drive an average of 2 miles an hour slower and changes lanes about 20% less often than other motorists, according to the study of students driving in simulators.

It totals a 5 to 10% increase in everyone's commute time or up to about 20 hours a year--that's two and a half days of work lost to cell phone distractions!

The problem is multitasking-- the brain gets over-loaded with the extra task involved in talking on the phone and can't process driving data as quickly, so drivers slow down.