Motorists to slow down phone traffic, says a study

WASHINGTON _ The motorists who use their cell phone while they are behind the wheel drive more slowly than others, even if they use a hands-free device, and they are unable to follow the flow of traffic, says a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Utah.

These drivers circulate and has a reduced speed of 3 km-h.

If you spend an hour a day in your car, this may result in additional twenty hours per year behind the wheel, precise Professor David Strayer.

Its results are tires observation of forty students put in a situation in simulators. He discovered that drivers are on the phone are more likely to stay stuck behind a slow vehicle and they change lanes 20 percent less often than others.

About 10 percent of drivers use their cell phone behind the wheel, said Strayer, and the cumulative effect may therefore be important. In a previous study, it was also concluded that the reactions of these drivers are comparable to those of a drunk driver.