Long-Term Effects of More Punitive Legislation Concerning the Use of Mobile Phone During Driving in Portugal

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a change in legislation regarding the use of handheld cell phones in Portugal provoked a substantial reduction of their use and if one year latter this reduction was still visible. Drivers’ handheld cell phone use was observed prior to the implementation of more punitive legislation, immediately after, 6 months and one year after the change in legislation. Estimated age (+ or – 40 years old) and gender was also registered for cellular telephones users. The counts were taken over 20 one-hour occasions equally divided over the four periods of observation and they were performed at the IC19 near Queluz, which is one of the roads with the most intense traffic flows of the region, for a total of 66841 observations. Results showed a considerable reduction from 1.29% of drivers before the law to 0.67% immediately after. However, one year later, the results (1.27%) were analogous to the initial observations. Phone users were predominantly male (75.35%), but this percentage is equivalent to all road users, so a gender trend was not found. On the contrary, we found a higher trend of younger drivers using mobile phones while driving. One of the most probable reasons for the main effect found was that as time goes by, drivers realize the low risk of being charged and punished for phone use while driving. The more punitive measures implemented with the new law regarding phone use showed no long-term effects

Situationally Aware In-Car Information Presentation Using Incremental Speech Generation: Safer, and More Effective

Kousidis S, Kennington C, Baumann T, Buschmeier H, Kopp S, Schlangen D. Situationally Aware In-Car Information Presentation Using Incremental Speech Generation: Safer, and More Effective. In: Proceedings of the EACL 2014 Workshop on Dialogue in Motion. Gothenburg, Sweden; 2014: 68-72.Holding non-co-located conversations while driving is dangerous (Horrey and Wickens, 2006; Strayer et al., 2006), much more so than conversations with physically present, “situated” interlocutors (Drews et al., 2004). In-car dialogue systems typically resemble non-co-located conversations more, and share their negative impact (Strayer et al., 2013). We implemented and tested a simple strategy for making in-car dialogue systems aware of the driving situation, by giving them the capability to interrupt themselves when a dangerous situation is detected, and resume when over. We show that this improves both driving performance and recall of system-presented information, compared to a non-adaptive strategy

Mobile phone use while driving: Underestimation of a global threat

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. The use of mobile phones (cell phones) has increased dramatically in the 21st century. The popularity of mobile phones and smart phones in the computer age can in part be associated with the growing problem of driver distraction. There are indications that the use of mobile phones while driving is one of the leading contributors to road traffic collisions (RTCs). However the true impact of the contribution of mobile phones to RTCs is masked by deficiencies in reporting. This review examines the evidence of association between mobile phone use and RTCs, placing emphasis on the challenges associated with reporting the role of mobile phones in RTCs across different countries, including the United States of America, Canada, China and Great Britain

Awareness of Performance Decrements Due to Distraction in Younger and Older Drivers

Although many studies have documented the performance decrements associated with driver distractions, few have examined drivers’ awareness of these distraction effects. The current study purports to measure how wellcalibrated drivers are with respect to their own performance when distracted. Forty drivers completed a series of tasks on a hand-held or hands-free cell phone while driving an instrumented vehicle around a closed test track. Subjective estimates of performance decrements were recorded and compared to actual decrements observed on multiple measures of driving performance. Although their driving performance suffered in dual-task conditions, drivers were generally not well-calibrated to the magnitude of the distraction effects (r = -.38 to .16). In some cases, estimates of distraction were opposite of the observed effects (i.e., smaller estimates of distraction corresponded to larger performance deficits). There were some age and gender differences. We discuss the implications of these findings for potential mitigation strategies for distracted driving

Mobile phone use among commercial drivers in Ghana: An important threat to road safety

Background: Ghana passed a law in 2012 banning the use of mobile phones while driving. However, data on compliance to the law has been lacking.Objective: To examine factors associated with mobile phone use while driving among Ghanaian commercial drivers.Methods: A survey was conducted among 627 commercial drivers (98.0% response rate). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to determine how a priori covariates influenced commercial drivers’ use of phones while driving. The covariates included driver age, education, driving route distance, driving under the influence (DUI), and knowledge that phone use during driving causes distraction.Results: Respondents were aware of the law (94.7%) but compliance was low (38%). Drivers who did not believe that cell phone use contributed to crash risk were more likely to report distracted driving (AOR 2.02,95%CI 1.05-3.9). Drivers who had completed primary (AOR 4.49,95%CI 1.14-17.78) or at least senior high school (AOR 6.89,95%CI 1.5-31.59) had increased odds of using the phone while driving, compared to those having no formal education. Drivers with 6-10 years (AOR 2.00,95%CI 1.00-3.98) or >10 years driving experience (AOR 2.87,95%CI 1.24-6.62) were more likely to report distracted driving compared to those with ≤5 years’ experience. Drivers who travelled longer distances were more likely to report distracted driving (AOR 2.41,95%CI 1.23-4.71). Those who had never engaged in DUI were less likely to use the phone while driving (AOR 0.06,95%CI 0.01-0.43).Conclusion: Future prevention efforts for distracted driving in Ghana will require targeted distracted driving enforcement and education for commercial drivers and their passengers. Funding: This study was funded, in part, by a grant (D43-TW007267) from the Fogarty International Center, US National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Keywords: Mobile phone, commercial drivers, Ghana, road safety, distracted drivin

Effect of Brief Biofeedback via a Smartphone App on Stress Recovery: Randomized Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND:Smartphones are often vilified for negatively influencing well-being and contributing to stress. However, these devices may, in fact, be useful in times of stress and, in particular, aid in stress recovery. Mobile apps that deliver evidence-based techniques for stress reduction, such as heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) training, hold promise as convenient, accessible, and effective stress-reducing tools. Numerous mobile health apps that may potentially aid in stress recovery are available, but very few have demonstrated that they can influence health-related physiological stress parameters (eg, salivary biomarkers of stress). The ability to recover swiftly from stress and reduce physiological arousal is particularly important for long-term health, and thus, it is imperative that evidence is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of stress-reducing mobile health apps in this context. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this research was to investigate the physiological and psychological effects of using a smartphone app for HRVB training following a stressful experience. The efficacy of the gamified Breather component of the Happify mobile health app was examined in an experimental setting. METHODS:In this study, participants (N=140) underwent a laboratory stressor and were randomly assigned to recover in one of three ways: with no phone present, with a phone present, with the HRBV game. Those in the no phone condition had no access to their phone. Those in the phone present condition had their phone but did not use it. Those in the HRVB game condition used the serious game Breather on the Happify app. Stress recovery was assessed via repeated measures of salivary alpha amylase, cortisol, and self-reported acute stress (on a 1-100 scale). RESULTS:Participants in the HRVB game condition had significantly lower levels of salivary alpha amylase during recovery than participants in the other conditions (F2,133=3.78, P=.03). There were no significant differences among the conditions during recovery for salivary cortisol levels or self-reported stress. CONCLUSIONS:These results show that engaging in a brief HRVB training session on a smartphone reduces levels of salivary alpha amylase following a stressful experience, providing preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of Breather in improving physiological stress recovery. Given the known ties between stress recovery and future well-being, this study provides a possible mechanism by which gamified biofeedback apps may lead to better health

Does Exposure to Distraction in an Experimental Setting Impact Driver Perception of Cell Phone Ease of Use and Safety?

We examined drivers’ perception of the ease and safety of cell phone use while driving before and after exposure to distraction in an experimental setting. During the study, each driver reflected on driving and task performance while engaged in conversation-like and arithmetic distraction tasks on a handsfree and hand-held cell phone. Hands-free phones were consistently rated easier to use and safer than hand-held cell phones by both age groups, despite equivalent decrements in driving performance. Younger drivers consistently rated cell phones to be easier to use and safer than did older drivers. After exposure to distraction, younger drivers’ perception of the ease of use declined relative to their initial ratings; however, there was no corresponding change in the ratings of safety. In contrast, older drivers’ perception of ease or safety did not change significantly post-exposure. A priori subjective ratings on various dimensions of driver skill and distraction were also examined with respect to age-related differences

Validation of the Static Load Test for Event Detection During Hands-Free Conversation

Objective. To see if visual event reaction times (RTs) during handsfree conversation conditions in the Enhanced Static Load Test (ESLT) can predict RTs in similar conditions in on-road driving. Methods. Brake reaction times to random center and side light events were measured while watching a driving video, attempting to keep a marker in the center of the lane with a steering wheel, answering the phone by pressing a button, and carrying on neutral or angry handsfree conversations in covert (silent) or overt mode on a hands-free phone device. Open-road tests were conducted in traffic for subjects with similar side and front light events, with foot reaction times measured while engaged in the same secondary tasks and conditions. Results. Mean RTs for the task segments in the lab were predictive of the mean RTs for the corresponding task segments in the on-road test (r = 0.90, df = 16, p \u3c 0.000001). Conclusion. This study validates the Enhanced Static Load Test as predictive of visual event RTs during open-road driving for the range of experimental conditions and tasks considered

A Strategically Timed Verbal Task Improves Performance and Neurophysiological Alertness During Fatiguing Drives

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The original publication is available at http://hfs.sagepub.com/content/56/3/453.Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate if a verbal task can improve alertness and if performance changes are associated with changes in alertness as measured by EEG. Background: Previous research has shown that a secondary task can improve performance on a short, monotonous drive. The current work extends this by examining longer, fatiguing drives. The study also uses EEG to confirm that improved driving performance is concurrent with improved driver alertness. Method: A 90-min, monotonous simulator drive was used to place drivers in a fatigued state. Four secondary tasks were used: no verbal task, continuous verbal task, late verbal task, and a passive radio task. Results: When engaged in a secondary verbal task at the end of the drive, drivers showed improved lane-keeping performance and had improvements in neurophysiological measures of alertness. Conclusion: A strategically timed concurrent task can improve performance even for fatiguing drives. Application: Secondary-task countermeasures may prove useful for enhancing driving performance across a range of driving conditions

Effects of cognitive processing and cell phone use while driving

With 233 million cell phone subscribers in the United States at the end of the year 2006, and 73% of those subscribers talking on their cell phones while driving, the issue of safety on the roads has become a major one. While there has been widespread research on the causes of driver distraction, and comparisons among those causes, there has not been research conducted in order to evaluate the effects of visual imagery on driver performance. This research employed two types of programs to examine the response time to the presented stimuli, as well as missed targets among 16 subjects. For each program, subjects completed six tasks (Baseline, Mental Arithmetic, Directions, Synonyms, In Person Conversation, Cell Phone Conversation). In the stimulus-response program, subjects were asked to press certain keys on a keyboard, corresponding to the stimuli presented on the screen (The six trials in this program included simple response of space bar upon stimulus; selecting a, s, d, or f; selecting a, s, d, f, j, or k; selecting a, s, d, f, j, k, l, or ; ; selecting a, s, d, or f with a 75% more likely; selecting a, d, j, or k incompatible). In the driving video program, subjects were asked to press r or w when a red or white/silver car as soon as they perceived a car of that color to be approaching in the opposite lane. Upon analysis of the stimulus-response program, it was found that Task and Trial Type were significant, with three of the tasks (cell phone conversation, in-person conversation, and synonyms) were highly significantly different from the directions and mental arithmetic tasks. Upon analysis of the driving video program, it was found that Task was a significant factor for missed targets. In conclusion, it was found that tasks involving mental imagery were significantly different than tasks requiring simple communication