Use a phone for 2 secs elevates the risk of a crash by 3-4x.

Using a phone for tasks that take drivers’ eyes off the road for more than two seconds is considered to elevate the risk of crashing by a factor of 3-4.

In its report on international road safety, the World Health Organisation (2015) identified mobile phone use as a key factor contributing to road trauma. Mobile phone use while driving is a problem because of the high level of task demand and types of resources that are also required for driving (i.e., cognitive, physical, and visual) and the negative impact that mobile phones can have on driving performance. In addition, the growing functions of smartphones (e.g., ability to send and receive emails, access the internet, use maps) have increased the range of demanding activities that can be carried out while driving. These additional functions similarly demand attentional resources which result in increased driver error (Westlake & Boyle, 2012). Mobile phone use while driving considerably and negatively affects driving performance (Oviedo-Trespalacios, Haque, King, & Washington, 2016). It is in this context that in 2018 the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) partnered with the New Zealand Automobile Association (NZAA) and successfully applied for a Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Road Safety Transformation Grant to commission research to build an evidence-based toolkit of intervention resources aimed at reducing young drivers’ in-vehicle mobile phone use.

The AAA then commissioned the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, to investigate smartphone use while driving. The program of research featured three goals: (i) understand the addictive nature of smartphones for young drivers; (ii) use the research to develop effective messaging and resources for the use of mobility clubs; and (iii) begin a national discussion about smartphone addiction interplay with distraction and crashes, and offer solutions. To address these goals, three interconnected streams of research were undertaken, the aims of which were to (i) investigate a possible link between addiction and smartphone use while driving and strategies one may use to reduce/prevent smartphone use (Research Stream 1); (ii) examine existing naturalistic and simulator studies to quantify the impact of smartphone use on driving, and compare this to other risky driving behaviours (Research Stream 2); and (iii) develop a methodology that can be applied internationally to track perception and attitudes about smartphone use while driving (Research Stream 3). This research as well as the broader body of literature in which it rests, has directly informed the development of the toolkit. This research summary describes how that has been accomplished.