Abstract This paper reviews two road-user surveys on the use of mobile phones on the road in Finland where the mobile phone ownership rate is highest in the world (70% in August 2000). From 1998 to 1999 the proportion of drivers that chose to use a mobile phone while driving rose from 56% to 68%, while the proportion of phone using drivers who experienced dangerous situations due to phone use rose from 44% to 50%. The proportion of drivers who used their phones in some way to benefit safety on the road remained at about 55%. The youngest, novice drivers had the highest level of phone usage of all age categories. Over 48% of the interviewees believed that the government should ban the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving, and another 27% believed that all types of mobile phone use should be banned while driving. Those drivers who used their phones the most each day were more likely to want some form of restrictions, than those who had lower usage. This is a strong message to the elected lawmakers and raises the problem of exactly how regulatory bodies would go about controlling the future growth of new driver support and non-driving related communication devices in road vehicles. It was concluded that legislating for hands-free use only would be a reasonable course of action. Mandating that the current generation of equipment should be optimized for hands-free use should result in future generations of in-vehicle equipment also being optimized for hands-free use as a minimum criterion.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Mobile phone use while driving: public opinions on restrictions


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2002




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    BKL:    55.80 Verkehrswesen, Transportwesen: Allgemeines / 74.75 Verkehrsplanung, Verkehrspolitik
    Local classification TIB:    535/7000



    Mobile Phone use while Driving in Sweden

    Gustafsson, S. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2003


    Influences of Gesture-Based Mobile Phone Use While Driving

    Niu, Jianwei / Zhou, Yulin / Wang, Dan et al. | Transportation Research Record | 2021


    Impulsivity facets and mobile phone use while driving: Indirect effects via mobile phone involvement

    Mostyn Sullivan, Beau / George, Amanda M. / Brown, Patricia M. | Elsevier | 2020


    Mobile phone use while driving: A hybrid modeling approach

    Márquez, Luis / Cantillo, Víctor / Arellana, Julián | Elsevier | 2015


    Mobile phone use while driving : conclusions from four investigations

    Thulin, Hans / Gustafsson, Susanne | TIBKAT | 2004