§ Lord Dormand of Easingtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the research evidence relating to the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman)There has been much concern about the road safety implications of using mobile phones while driving. We therefore asked the94WA Transport Research Laboratory to look at the evidence currently available and the report they have prepared is being published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.
The report concludes that the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving is widely regarded as unsafe. Most regard this as so self-evident that there have been few specific studies. Hands-free phones have received the greatest attention and the debate in the research community centres on the extent to which hands-free conversations impact on driving performance. Studies suggest that the distraction effect of phones reduces as they are made easier to use. However, the distraction caused by the mental effort of telephone conversation is present, even with advanced devices.
Manual dialling and intense telephone conversations have been shown to cause considerable distraction and it is thought that this may impact on safety. Although the evidence is largely circumstantial, it all points in the same direction—that there is an association between telephone use and increased accident risk. Furthermore, there is evidence that phone conversations are more stressful than equivalent conversations with passengers.
The results of this research are reflected in the revised draft of the Highway Code on which we invited public comments last week and which we hope to put before Parliament next year. It is also reflected in the draft Code of Practice on the use of mobile phones in vehicles, which we are discussing with the mobile phone companies and motoring interests.