Study: Mobile Devices Can Both Cause And Save Us From Road Accidents

Everybody knows that mobile devices can cause drivers of automobiles to get distracted while behind the wheel. Numerous studies have been conducted regarding this topic, and the latest one from Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) is particularly telling. The company is a supplier of telematics for behavior related insurance, and it collected information from hundreds of thousands of drivers in order to shed new light on distracted driving. According to its report, majority of car crashes were determined to be caused by at least one type of mobile phone distraction. 

Still, CMT believes that there is another approach to helping reduce mobile phone distraction, and accordingly, it involves a form of technology that the telematics company has created. This is where DriveWell comes in -- it is a system that records phone sensor data automatically especially when the device’s user is driving a vehicle. CMT’s idea is to have a mobile app (that is integrated with the DriveWell system) possess some sort of positive feedback (akin to rewarding people playing a mobile game), so that the driver is less distracted and more focused on the driving. In other words, the system is aiming for the driver to treat everything as if it were a game, even in very serious scenarios.

According to CMT, this should minimize mobile phone distraction by 30 to 40 percent over a couple of months of use. Of course, many are curious how exactly CMT arrived at this somewhat bold proposal. Well, the company found that during instances that involve a car crash, the average length of time of mobile phone related distraction was over 2 full minutes. Also, longer periods of phone distraction are likely to happen when the driver has reached driving speeds of over 56 miles an hour. This is hardly surprising -- when one is driving fast on the highway, that person is more likely to get bored, and maybe check for text messages while behind the wheel.

CMT’s findings also show that repeat offenders, i.e. those who check their mobile phones the most while driving their vehicle are six times more likely to be involved in a collision compared to those who are not fond of reaching for their handsets while on the road. Those who use their mobile phones the most are also 2.3 times more likely to crash than the average driver, regardless of the level of phone distraction involved. 

For more of CMT’s study, head on to this page.