![\"Mobile](\"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/mobile_1.jpg\" "\\"Mobile")
Nice to see that the American educational system is no better than ours. After years of dumbing down and inflated grades to make people look better than they are, the same people seem to be at universities, demonstrating a very rudimentary understanding of accident statistics and the factors which affect them.<\/p>\n
This report (via The Telegraph) from MIT<\/a> says that mobile phone bans in cars might be ineffective because those who use mobiles are already bad drivers.<\/p>\n I would hope that most of those reading this can already see the obvious problem with this statement. If someone is already<\/span> a bad driver, using a mobile phone will just make them worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n The study leader, Bryan Reimer, is quoted (it\u2019s an American quote, hence the spelling):<\/p>\n It’s clear that cell phones in and of themselves impair the ability to manage the demands of driving.<\/p>\n But the fundamental problem may be the behavior of the individuals willing to pick up the technology.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You cannot possibly suggest that using a mobile phone doesn\u2019t impair your ability to concentrate on driving, yet that\u2019s what this guy is implying in spite of that first sentence. Why do so many academics try to be clever and find conflict or uncertainty where there is none? If you fiddle with the radio or CD, try to open a packet of sweets or sandwiches, tip your head back to drink, try to feed the sprog in the baby seat at the side of or behind you\u2026 or piss about with your mobile phone, then you are distracted.<\/strong><\/p>\n Banning the use of mobile phones – and enforcing it with hefty penalties – addresses just one part of the overall problem. People being rubbish drivers at the genetic level is part<\/strong> of the same problem, but totally unconnected with mobile phone distraction while driving.<\/p>\n To make matters worse, the \u201cstudy\u201d only involved 108 people, and those were split into three age groups (giving only 36 per group if it was an equal split). They were also \u201casked\u201d to grade themselves as frequent or infrequent mobile phone users while driving (so objectivity has just sailed away over the horizon).<\/p>\n The findings were reported earlier this month in ‘Accident Analysis & Prevention’ and may explain why cell phone bans do not seem to work.<\/p>\n ‘Cell phone bans have reduced cell phone use by drivers, but the perplexing thing is that they haven’t reduced crashes,’ said Russ Rader, a spokesperson for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Virginia\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n They don\u2019t work because the whole issue is far more complex than this \u201cstudy\u201d has assumed, and people just ignore the bans, for God\u2019s sake! In the UK, you\u2019re looking at a fixed penalty of \u00a360 and 3 points on your licence at the very least.<\/strong> If it goes to court then \u00a31,000 and a ban is quite likely. Yet when I\u2019m out on the roads, it can be as many as 50% of other road users pratting about on phones at traffic lights (i.e. when I get chance to look). Some of them – predominantly women, I\u2019m afraid – are obviously texting or networking, and not merely talking.<\/p>\n ‘There is no question in anyone’s mind that talking on a cell phone increases risk,’ said Reimer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Then why bloody well suggest the opposite, and say to the media that bans don\u2019t work? The only logical action from that is to change the law so people can<\/strong> use them, especially as far as the typical journalist\u2019s brain in concerned. And that\u2019s just stupid when you\u2019ve also just said that using one increases risk!<\/p>\n As I say, the whole issue is far more complex, and extant research – on many more people –\u00a0has shown<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u2026that if you\u2019re using any mobile phone when driving, you’re four times more likely to crash. You also have significantly worse reaction times than someone driving after drinking alcohol at the legal limit.<\/p>\n To find out how difficult it is to focus on several things while driving, try the Driving Challenge. This online game highlights the dangers of using your phone when driving.<\/p>\n