Cell Phone Use While Driving

Cell phone usage amongst youth while driving has been linked to many egregious consequences. The National Safety Counsel (2010) announced during a press release that 28 percent of auto accidents among individuals 16 to 24 were attributable to cell phone usage while driving. Strayer and Johnston (2001) found that when conversing on either hands free or hand held phones while engaging in simulated driving, undergraduate participants 1) missed twice as many traffic signals and were slower to respond to signals 2) showed an increase in tracking error during a word generation task, and 3) showed no decline in driving ability in the control conditions, which consisted of listening to the radio or a book on tape. Based upon these results, they concluded that cell phone use created deficits in driving ability and that the source of theses deficits was the diversion of attention to a more cognitively engaging stimulus (i.e. the phone conversation). It is because of these shifts in attentional demand required in dual-task processing that cell phone usage while driving can be particularly hazardous to youth.

Cramer, Mayer, and Ryan (2007) stated in their study of cell use on a college campus that youth exhibit inferior dual-task processing and visual search capabilities, making it difficult to manage shifts in attentional demand. The study also noted that reported rates of cell use while driving amongst individuals aged 16 to 24 years has continued to rise over the past decade at staggering rates, and furthermore that college rates were even higher than general youth rates .

Cell use while driving at night is an even more hazardous behavior that is frequently observed in youth drivers. Based upon several research findings, the National Institute for Highway Safety quotes night time driving as one of the major risk factors for youth auto accidents. In conjunction with this assertion, the Houston Chronicle (2010) released a news story in regards to youth cell use at night. Researchers from the Texas Transportation Institute found that between 1999 and 2008, fatal night time auto accidents among teens increased by 5 percent due to cell use (Langford & Wang, 2010). Vivoda and colleagues (2008) conducted a study that evidenced this claim. Overall recorded rates of night time cell use were at 5.8% , but female drivers aged 16 to 29 were observed to be using cells at night 11.9% of the time.

Youth are at high risk for falling victim to the negative effects of cell usage while driving, and rates of cell use amongst youth continue to grow at alarming rates. Youth also frequent the roads at night in higher volumes than do adults, and night driving while using a cell is extremely hazardous. In particular, college aged individuals have been observed to be the most likely to engage in cell use while driving (during the day), but little data on night time rates exists. In order to investigate whether cell use is continuing to increase among youth, this study seeks to explore overall rates of cell phone usage on a college campus. Furthermore, night time rates of cell use will be recorded. If youth are most at risk to use a cell at night, and are most likely to fall victim to an accident from this use at night, more data needs to be collected. It is especially important to collect college campus data in this category because college campuses have a high volume of youth trafficking roads during night hours.

Based on the previous research findings, the following is hypothesized: 1) Observed cell usage on college campuses will be higher than the current national average 2) Cell use on college campuses has increased since 2007 3) Night time cell usage by youth has increased since 2008 and 4) Night time cell usage will still be lower than daytime cell usage.

Method

Participants

Observations were conducted by groups of 2 to 3 students on 100 vehicles at various intersections or main streets on a college campus. These areas were trafficked largely (but not exclusively) by college-aged individuals. Besides gender, no demographic information was collected as it was not pertinent to the aim of the study and may have been too difficult to discern from observer position.

Materials

Each observer used a data collection sheet numbered 1 to 100 to record observations. Categorical variables included cell use and gender. As each vehicle passed, observers recorded any observed cell use, which was previously defined as a driver holding his or her phone to their head, and the gender of the driver in the provided spaces.

Procedure

Observers (in groups of 2 or 3) positioned themselves at various reasonably trafficked locations across a college campus and observed passing cars in the right hand lane. Without conversing, cell phone usage (indicated by a 0 for no use and 1 for use) and gender of the driver (f= female, m=male) were recorded. If observers were in groups of 3, one group member acted as designated time keeper and announced every tenth vehicle passing while the other members recorded data. If observers were in pairs, one member doubled as both a data collector and time keeper. The IRR, a measure of the degree to which observers agree upon what it is they are observing, was calculated post-observation to ensure consensus among observers and to avoid threats to the validity of the results. An IRR of 80 or above was deemed acceptable.

Results

It was previously hypothesized that 1) Observed cell usage on college campuses will be higher than the current national average 2) Cell use on college campuses has increased since 2007 3) Night time cell usage by youth has increased since 2008 and 4) Night time cell usage will still be lower than daytime cell usage. To test these hypotheses, several steps were