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Brain & Nervous System

Mobile phone use-Effects of handheld and handsfree phones on driving performance.

No Effects Found

Tornros JE, Bolling AK. · 2005

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Both handheld and hands-free phone use equally impair driving performance, showing that cognitive distraction remains dangerous regardless of phone type.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers tested 48 drivers using mobile phones while navigating simulated driving courses to measure how phone use affects driving performance and mental workload. They found that both handheld and hands-free phone use significantly impaired drivers' ability to detect peripheral events and maintain proper vehicle control, indicating increased mental strain regardless of phone type. The study reveals that hands-free devices don't eliminate the cognitive distraction that makes phone use dangerous while driving.

Study Details

The study was concerned with effects of handsfree and handheld mobile phone dialling and conversation in simulated driving.

In the main experiment dealing with conversation, 48 participants drove a distance of about 70 km on...

Performance on a peripheral detection task (PDT) while driving was impaired by dialling and conversa...

In the dialling experiment, no difference between the two phone modes appeared.

Cite This Study
Tornros JE, Bolling AK. (2005). Mobile phone use-Effects of handheld and handsfree phones on driving performance. Accid Anal Prev. 37(5):902-909, 2005.
Show BibTeX
@article{je_2005_mobile_phone_useeffects_of_3447,
  author = {Tornros JE and Bolling AK.},
  title = {Mobile phone use-Effects of handheld and handsfree phones on driving performance.},
  year = {2005},
  
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457505000709},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

No, hands-free phones don't make driving significantly safer. A 2005 study of 48 drivers found both handheld and hands-free phones equally impaired drivers' ability to detect peripheral events and maintain vehicle control, indicating the cognitive distraction remains the same regardless of phone type.
Phone conversations while driving markedly increase mental workload according to driving simulation research. The 2005 Tornros study found both dialing and talking impaired drivers' peripheral detection abilities, with participants showing compensatory behaviors like reduced speed but still experiencing significantly elevated mental strain.
Yes, dialing while driving increases lateral position deviation, meaning drivers drift more within their lanes. The 2005 study found this lane-keeping impairment occurred equally with both handheld and hands-free phones, indicating dialing creates dangerous steering control problems regardless of device type.
Drivers instinctively slow down as a compensatory effort to manage increased mental workload from phone use. Research shows this speed reduction occurs during both dialing and conversation, with hands-free dialing causing the greatest speed decrease as drivers attempt to maintain safety.
Phone conversations actually decreased lateral position deviation in one study, suggesting slightly more stable lane positioning. However, this apparent improvement came with significantly increased mental workload and reduced driving speed, indicating overall impairment despite this single measured improvement in lane stability.