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Chatty Passengers Less Distracting Than Cell Phones, Study Finds

by Tim Stevens on December 1, 2008 at 08:48 AM

Chatty Passengers Less Distracting than Cell Phones
We've already covered the dangers of cell phone use while driving, and the legal motions many states have put in place in an attempt to stop the practice, but just in case you needed yet another bit of warning to put down the handset while behind the wheel, we've got that too. A new study shows that people talking on cell phones are more distracted than people talking to passengers in the car.

The study, posted in the 'Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied,' was conducted at the University of Utah and used 96 drivers aged 18 to 49. It found that people were more likely to drive badly and miss exits on the highway while on the phone compared to when they were talking with passengers, largely because passengers were also in the car and were thus aware of traffic conditions. Passengers tended to know when to shut up when things got busy, and could even help the driver by pointing out impending trouble -- something a disembodied voice on the other end of a call can't do. [From: Reuters]

Tags: cell phone use, CellPhoneUse, driving while texting, DrivingWhileTexting, safety, studies, study, talking while driving, TalkingWhileDriving

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