Mythbusters Tests Dangers of Cell Phones

Driving while talking on a cell phone is universally accepted as a dangerous activity. But how dangerous is it? Mythbusters, a television show that takes popular myths and urban legends and applies scientific testing and analysis to either confirm, bust, or mark as plausible, recently dedicated an episode to the idea that driving while talking on a cell phone is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.

A road safety test was designed to see how drivers responded to different driving scenarios. A male and female were chosen to complete the course three times: once with no distractions, once while talking on a hand-held cell phone, and once while being intoxicated just below the legal limit. Each part was graded by an instructor inside the vehicle.

The drivers were forced to answer several types of questions while driving and talking on a cell phone, including repeating a sentence and answering a verbal puzzle. And although they were under the legal limit of intoxication for driving, a police-administered breathalyzer ensured both were just slightly below the .08 blood-alcohol limit common in most states.

According to the results, both participants successfully completed the test that had no distractions. However, both drivers failed while talking on a cell phone and while driving intoxicated. The cell phone tests were failed by a much bigger margin, according to the show, although participants admitted that it would be easier to put a phone down in dangerous driving situations than it would be to stop being intoxicated.

So how did they judge the myth that driving and talking on a cell phone is just as dangerous as driving intoxicated? It was confirmed.