A study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University has shown that talking on a cell phone while driving causes the drivers to make some of the same driving errors that are common among those driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, university researchers used brain imaging for the first time to document that listening alone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. This can cause drivers to weave out of their lane, based on the performance of subjects using a driving simulator.
The study consisted of 29 volunteers using a driving simulator while inside an MRI brain scanner, steering a car along a virtual winding road while they were undisturbed or while they were deciding whether a sentence they heard was true or false.
"The clear implication is that engaging in a demanding conversation could jeopardize judgment and reaction time if an atypical or unusual driving situation arose," neuroscientist and director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Marcel Just told NAMIC. "Heavy traffic is no place for an involved personal or business discussion, let alone texting ."
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