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Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Cell Phones Make You Drive Like a 70 Year Old
When my sister lived in Florida she said that driving was taking her life into her own hands with the seniors who would lurch suddenly into a new lane or turn left with no warning. Looks like seniors aren't alone: A report from the University of Utah says when motorists between 18 and 25 talk on cell phones, they drive like elderly people -- moving and reacting more slowly and increasing their risk of accidents.

"If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, his reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver," said David Strayer, a University of Utah psychology professor and principal author of the study. "It's like instant aging." Source: AP

# Permalink Posted at 3:53 AM 6 comments Email this Link

Comments on this Item:

I think most of us could have told them that without doing a study ;)

# posted by David 8:18 AM

In our little town in Oregon, a teenager actually flipped his car into an Albertsons parking lot and skidded on his roof about 50 feet right up to the store's front steps!

The little fugger was on his cell phone, ran a red, then drifted across oncoming lanes, hit a tree and was catapulted upside down at about 40mph, sliding to a metal-grinding stop about 15 feet from the vegetable section. He wasn't hurt, but he killed an innocent tree.

Pics on my blog - December 2004.

# posted by Jason in Oregon 10:09 AM

Alice, you're like 80 years old now? I think you should drive with a cell all the time. Every little bit helps you know.

# posted by Dolemite 4:05 PM

You have too many tree in Oregon anyhow.

Regards from Sunny Miami

# posted by Anonymous 5:29 AM

a fully laden Depends can have the same effect. Trust me on this one.

# posted by Anonymous 11:29 PM

The study also claims that these drivers will be 'more impaired than drunken drivers with blood alcohol levels exceeding 0.08.' Hands-free systems apparently don't help much either as they still require a driver to 'actively be part of a conversation.'

Seems to me that any type of distracted driving law would make cell phone usage illegal.

# posted by Anonymous 10:13 AM

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