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Driving performance during concurrent cell-phone use: are drivers aware of their performance decrements?

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Lesch MF, Hancock PA. · 2004

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Drivers using cell phones often don't realize their performance is impaired, with older women showing the largest disconnect between confidence and actual ability.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers tested whether drivers using cell phones are aware of how much their driving performance suffers. They found that while confident male drivers performed better, confident female drivers (especially older women) actually performed worse, with brake response times slowing by 0.38 seconds compared to just 0.07-0.10 seconds for other groups. This suggests many drivers, particularly women, don't realize how much cell phone use impairs their driving ability.

Why This Matters

This research reveals a dangerous blind spot in how we perceive cell phone risks while driving. The science demonstrates that confidence doesn't equal competence when it comes to managing device distractions, particularly for female drivers who showed the greatest disconnect between perceived and actual performance. What makes this especially concerning is that older women experienced brake response delays nearly four times longer than other groups, yet rated the driving task as less demanding than men did. This mirrors what we see throughout EMF research - people often don't perceive the biological effects occurring in their bodies. The reality is that our brains aren't wired to recognize subtle performance decrements from electromagnetic exposures, whether from driving with a phone or chronic low-level EMF exposure in daily life.

Exposure Information

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.

Study Details

This current study examined the extent to which different driver groups are aware of their associated performance decrements.

Subjects' confidence in dealing with distractors while driving and their ratings of task performance...

While high confidence ratings appeared to be predictive of better driving performance for male drive...

Cite This Study
Lesch MF, Hancock PA. (2004). Driving performance during concurrent cell-phone use: are drivers aware of their performance decrements? Accid Anal Prev. 36(3):471-480, 2004.
Show BibTeX
@article{mf_2004_driving_performance_during_concurrent_2350,
  author = {Lesch MF and Hancock PA.},
  title = {Driving performance during concurrent cell-phone use: are drivers aware of their performance decrements?},
  year = {2004},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15003592/},
}
PubMed: 15003592

Cited By (241 papers)

View all 241 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

Yes, a 2004 study by Lesch and Hancock found female drivers experience greater impairment from cell phone use than males. Older women showed brake response delays of 0.38 seconds compared to only 0.07-0.10 seconds for other groups, yet rated the driving task as less demanding.
Only for male drivers. The 2004 research found that confident male drivers performed better with cell phones, but confident female drivers actually performed worse. Older confident women showed the greatest performance decline, suggesting confidence doesn't predict actual driving ability during phone use.
Cell phone use slows brake response times by 0.07 to 0.38 seconds depending on the driver. A 2004 study found older women experienced the longest delays at 0.38 seconds, while younger drivers and older men showed smaller delays of 0.07-0.10 seconds.
Many drivers, especially women, are not aware of their decreased performance when using cell phones. The 2004 Lesch-Hancock study found female drivers rated driving as less demanding than males despite showing greater performance impairment, indicating poor self-awareness of distraction effects.
Yes, according to 2004 research by Lesch and Hancock. The study found a greater discrepancy between female drivers' perceptions and actual performance during cell phone use, suggesting educational campaigns should specifically target women to address this awareness gap.