I also think that a phone when driving is not such a big deal? Of course, it probably distracts a bit, but nothing terrible happens again, driving a car and manage to the left rear. Nobody knows exactly how much it really matters. Editors discovered how much worse reaction the driver phoning, writing or even text message.
The phone slows your reaction
The idea was simple, the implementation much more difficult to measure need special equipment. They lent it to us at the Centre for Safe Driving Polygon Bridge. How does the test turn out? It turned out that when talking on the phone while driving and do not care if the phone in hand or hands-free kit, your reactions are much slower.
Here are the hard data: the phone call with the handsfree kit test driver was driving at approximately 70 km / h. And before he could přešlápnout from gas to brake, drove about 13 meters more than if it focused on horseback
If you hold the phone in hand, it was even 18 meters. That's the width of several pedestrian crossings, the length of four cars and one truck. And yet even begun to brake. This remains the fact that callers driver subconsciously drove slowly up to 20 km / h, because his reaction was even slower. Confirmed by telephone while driving is extremely dangerous activity and promoted the use of hands-free is not very secure.
"It's a huge difference," said transport expert Miroslav Cerny, who was in charge of technical aspects of the action. have been slower and starts, not dramatically, but still: the driver with the phone faster from zero to 100 km around two seconds slower.
They react too late, call!
The most important goal, however, the test was to measure the so-called reaction time, a moment when the driver přešlápne from gas to brake. Only then can begin to brake, which also takes some time and the sum of these two figures gives the resulting braking distance.
It depends of course on the speed. "This is when someone jumps from the car and you need to brake suddenly. No phone drivers reacted to a sudden obstacle on average in 0.5 seconds, during which time drove at a speed of 72 km / h over nine feet. Speaking to handsfree , the reaction time was 1.1 seconds at a speed of 70 km and it drove for 22 meters. With phone in hand braked to 1.5 seconds, while on the clock was 67 km / h but has traveled 27.3 meters. It is again average, the worst of the responses have been about two seconds, which means that the chauffeur drove 37.5 meters before touching the brake, "calculates Miroslav Cerny.
Writing SMS can create a crisis situation
Large fluctuations we measured when writing text messages. Although the average response time was 1.7 seconds (over 27 meters), but the worst has already measured was 3.2 seconds and then 45 meters to the horrific beginning of braking, the second worst time was two seconds.
And another annoying thing: writing the report the driver is behaving erratically on the road. For example, much more intrusive obstruct unnecessarily tramples on the pedal and can thus create a crisis situation. In two cases, when the driver is concentrating on writing an SMS and was just in the corner, pulled out of the runway, went even slower.
On the contrary, the chauffeur engaged in a phone call inhibits excessive lax, slow pays attention to such proceedings. Psychologists can not concentrate like that drivers often ignore the signs and often do not give right of way.
As the great benefits of hands-free?
As already mentioned in the introduction, or hands-free is not a major safety benefit while driving. Manufacturers Handsfree is known to say his favorite phrase "you go with him safely and securely, but as shown by the results of our test (and experts on traffic it has previously claimed), it is not true. The only difference is that you can keep both hands on the wheel, but the mental strain is the same on the phone.
"The big risk is that absolutely no one is able to concentrate on two things at once. And among the essential prerequisites for safe driving are the so-called motor readiness, ie the readiness to respond immediately to their behavior to the situation. If anything adversely affecting the driver, maybe call Hands-free, the results are driving less, "says safe driving instructor and head of the Most polygon Jiri Patera, who was at the test as a consultant.