Key Points
Studies using driving simulators have found that using a cell phone while driving significantly
impairs several aspects of driving performance, principally reaction time.
Studies of the cell phone records of crash-involved drivers suggest that using a cell phone while
driving is associated with roughly a quadrupling of crash risk.
Two out of every three drivers believe that using a hands-free cell phone while driving is safer than
using a hand-held phone; however, the overwhelming majority of available evidence suggests that it
is not.
Over half of all drivers admit using a cell phone while driving at least occasionally; 16–17% report
doing so regularly.
Younger people report higher levels of cell phone use while driving than older people do; however,
the proportion of drivers aged 35 to 44 who report using cell phones while driving is not
significantly lower than the proportion of drivers ages 18 to 24 who report doing so.
One in seven drivers admits to text messaging while driving.
Younger people are overwhelmingly more likely than older people to text message while driving—
nearly half of survey respondents aged 18 to 24 admit doing so, whereas fewer than 5% of drivers
aged 45 and older admit doing so.
More than four out of five drivers rate drivers using cell phones as a serious or extremely serious
traffic safety problem, over half say that it is unacceptable, and one in seven even mention reducing
or eliminating driver cell phone use in an open-ended question seeking ideas for ways to prevent
motor vehicle crashes.
Drivers who express these attitudes are less likely than average to report
using a cell phone while driving; however between 29% and 46% of these same drivers report that
they themselves have used a cell phone while driving at least occasionally in the past month.
https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/...vingReport.pdf