According to a University of Utah study, motorists who talk on cell phones drive more slowly on the freeway, pass sluggish vehicles less frequently, and take longer to complete their trips. The study suggests drivers on cell phones congest traffic.

“At the end of the day, the average person’s commute is longer considering of that person who is on the cell phone right in front of them,” says University of Utah psychology Professor Dave Strayer, leader of the research team.

Strayer and Joel Cooper, a doctoral student in psychology, conducted the study with Ivana Vladisavljevic, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, and Peter Martin, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the University of Utah Traffic Lab.

“If you talk on the phone while you’re driving, it’s going to take you longer to get from point A to point B, and it’s going to slow down everybody else on the road,”

said Joel Cooper, a doctoral student in psychology. Martin said that, combined with Strayer’s previous research, the new study shows cell phones not only assemble driving dangerous, but plus cause delays.

Simulated Study

The study, which relied on a driving simulator to conduct the tests, involved 36 psychology students. Each student drove through six, 9.2-mile trip scenarios, two each in low, medium, and high-density traffic corresponding to freeway speeds of 40 mph to 70 mph. Each 9.2-mile drive included 3.9 miles with two lanes in each direction and 5.3 miles with three lanes each way. Traffic speed and flow were designed to imitate Interstate 15 in Salt Lake City.

Each student spoke on a hands-free cell phone during one drive at each level of traffic density, and did not use a cell phone during the other three drives. A volunteer on the other end of the phone was told…

Original post by Top Tech News