According to a News.com report, researchers at the university found that drivers talking on a cellphone while driving are not "processing" peripheral vision well.
The study had 20 test subjects using a driving simulator.
The News.com report said that in one test, a driver on a phone and one focused solely on the road were shown the same series of billboards. The driver not talking while driving remembered seeing "50 percent more billboards than the driver on the phone," the study found.
Associate professor David Strayer was quoted as saying that this is "inattention blindness," an impairment that slowed reaction time by 20 percent and made some drive-and-dial practitioners miss half the red lights they were suddenly presented with in some simulations."
Strayer also said that "when people are on the phone, the amount of information they are taking in is significantly reduced."
Strayer said, "People were missing things, like cars swerving in front or sudden lane changes. We had at least three rear-end collisions."
The issue of driving while using a cellphone has been addressed by cellphone manufacturers, including Nokia, which has launched a campaign against using cellphones while driving.
In the Philippines, drivers are cautioned not to use their cellphones while behind the wheel. – Quadmedia News Agency