Profiles in driver distraction : effects of cell phone conversations on younger and older drivers

2004PDFJournal ArticleDistractionHuman factors in accidentsCellular telephonesAdolescentsAged driversStrayer, David L.Drews, Frank A.NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human FactorsSynopsis \u2013 Younger and older drivers conversing on a hands-free cell phone were found to have slower responses to random braking by the vehicle ahead.\ua0 Cell phone use slowed the younger drivers\u2019 responses to an extent that they were equivalent to the older drivers\u2019 response times when they were not using a cell phone. The younger drivers responded 0.13 seconds more slowly, and the older drivers responded 0.17 seconds more slowly when conversing on a cell phone. Overall, use of cell phone resulted in 18% slower responses to the vehicle ahead braking