Despite The Danger College Students Still Use Mobile Apps While Driving.
Forget talking or even texting on the phone while driving. New research shows that college students use mobile applications while driving, even though they are aware of how dangerous it can be.
According to UAB News, a University of Alabama at Birmingham survey showed that 10 percent of students admitted that they use mobile apps “often”, “almost always” or “always” while driving. Thirty five percent of college students “sometimes” use mobile phone applications while driving. The findings are based on a survey of 93 UAB students who own a smartphone and use it to access Internet-based applications at least four times a week. Though the participants are not a random sample, David Schwebel, Ph.D., director of the UAB Youth Safety Lab, said the results are concerning.
“Driving a car is an incredibly complex task for humans to complete safely… A driver using his or her smartphone is clearly distracted, both visually and cognitively, and really should not be driving,” said Schwebel.
“What really stood out was the number of participants who verbally reported understanding that using mobile Internet while driving was dangerous, but continued to do it,” said Lauren McCartney, a UAB student who worked on the study.
Interestingly, Schwebel noted that students usually do not use the apps for urgent business or necessity (for example, Google Maps for directions). Instead, it is purely for socializing and entertainment. McCartney added that some students want to stay up-to-date, so they check their mobile apps on an hourly basis.
“…Something needs to be done because in psychological terms, Internet use involves substantial cognitive and visual distraction that exceeds talking or texting, making it much more dangerous,” said McCartney to UAB News.
Researchers pointed out that 33 states currently ban text messaging while driving, but no state specifically bans the use of Internet-based mobile phone applications.
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