Preliminary research developing a theory of cell phone distraction and social relationships

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death and injury for people aged 5 – 34, accounting annually for over 3000 deaths, and 100 times as many injuries. It is well established that distracted driving, and cell phone use while driving in particular, pose significant crash risk to drivers. Research has demonstrated that drivers are well aware of this danger but over 90% of drivers report using a cell phone while driving. Given the likely role that social influence plays in how people use cell phones while driving surprisingly little research has been conducted investigating to whom drivers are talking or texting. We report the results of a national survey to determine who drivers are most likely to call or text when behind the wheel and compared these results with general cell phone calling and texting patterns as well as previous findings on the prevalence of calling and texting while driving. The results suggest that social distance is a key factor in cell phone use while driving: Teens are more likely to talk with parents, and adults are more likely to talk with spouses than general calling patterns would suggest. We discuss whether the purpose of calls made while driving, such as coordination, could help explain these patterns. We propose next steps for further examining the role social relationships play in cell phone use while driving to potentially reduce teen driver cell phone use by lowering the number of calls from parents.

Cell Phone Use While Driving: Prospective Association with Emerging Adult Use

“…Most (70%) peers were similarly aged (19–20) to the participants in W4; 76% were friends, 15% were siblings, and 10% were other family members or romantic partners. Peer cell phone use is described in Table 3.…”

“…Another survey indicated that teens recognize that secondary task engagement, particularly cell phone use such as texting, and mobile application use (such as Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram) contribute to driver inattention; however, they and their peers often engage in these behaviors while driving (18). Texting among young drivers may increase with age and experience and vary according to the age of passenger (19). …”

Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention

“…The proximity of relationship of the individual who is communicating with the adolescent influences cell-phone use (Atchley & Warden, 2012; LaVoie, Lee, & Parker, 2015). In a focus group study, adolescent participants indicated that context mattered; the individual involved in the communication, and the reason behind it, would influence whether they would use the cell phone while driving (McDonald & Sommers, 2015).…”

“…In a focus group study, adolescent participants indicated that context mattered; the individual involved in the communication, and the reason behind it, would influence whether they would use the cell phone while driving (McDonald & Sommers, 2015). A survey study of 395 adolescent drivers found that adolescents most often spoke to parents while driving (50%), rather than a significant other (16%) or friend (21%) (LaVoie et al, 2015). This indicates that reducing check in calls from parents may reduce cellphone use while driving.…”

“…This indicates that reducing check in calls from parents may reduce cellphone use while driving. However, adolescent drivers were more likely to text a significant other (30%) or friend (27%) rather than their parents (16%) (LaVoie et al, 2015). Social norms strongly influence texting behavior, as 89% of adolescents expect a response to a text message within 5 minutes (Bowen et al, 2009).…”