by Alex Samson

Created on: January 28, 2009

According to the vast majority of studies taken around the world, talking on a mobile phone while driving a car or other type of vehicle is dangerous and can have serious, life threatening consequences Irrespective of whether hands free devices are employed (sure, they make it legal, but legal isn't safe, is it?). Unfortunately, a large number of people think this is rubbish and is simply the 'nanny' state sticking its considerable nose in where it is not wanted.

I'm one of the biggest opponents of the nanny state, but you've got to pick your fights, and on this one science is the winner by a long chalk. The fact is, when we talk on the phone we tend to focus our attention inwards; we focus on what the disembodied voice in the earpiece is saying, rather than watching the world around us with any real degree of scrutiny. Our eyes might see what's going on but does the brain process the information at the same speed and accuracy as it would if we were focussed? No.

Driving a car, talking on the phone, building a model ship and putting it in a bottle, playing a video game, these are all 'cognitive' tasks. They utilize a particular part of the brain. Performing one of these tasks allows the brain to devote 100% of its cognitive processing ability on the challenge at hand. Doing two at the same time means it has to split its focus between the two tasks, and probably not always evenly. So in effect, the moment we pick the phone up and dial (or voice dial through a hands free kit) while driving, our driving ability drops by at least half. In that instant we become bad drivers, dangerous drivers. Your eye simply isn't on the ball from that point onwards.

The next time you go on a journey with a passenger, try to remember the journey later. focus on specific details such as how many pink cars passed you, how many milk tankers did you see, land marks, etc. There will be pockets of time, usually when you were deep in conversation with the passenger, where you can't pick out details of the journey. Now imagine a child ran out in front of the car during one of these long attention blinks. Scary, huh?

On a personal level, I have to hold my own hands up and say I've been guilty of this in the past. Fortunately for me and everybody else, nothing serious ever happened. But I've heard enough horror stories to put me off. I'm lucky, I've learned from other peoples' mistakes.

Here in the UK, the law on mobile handset use while driving changed a few years back. It is now illegal to hold your phone while driving. Is that a step in the right direction? Not really. Now, rather than just having a phone call, people are messing around with headsets, dashboard speakers and other gadgets when they try to make a call, further distracting them from the road. The law should be total: NO ACTIVE PHONES IN THE CAR. The other problem with the new legislation is the penalty; it's far to soft and acts as no sort of deterrent. Education and stiffer penalties are what's needed.

Part of me hopes that sites like this will eventually be a force for good in this particular arena, but the other part of me isn't that optimistic.

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