Linardou M., Spyropoulou I., Pavlou D., Yannis G., “Impact of mobile phone use on driving performance: findings from a simulator study”, Proceedings of the 7th Transport Research Arena TRA 2018 Conference, Vienna, Austria, 16-19 April 2018.

Mobile phone use while driving is one of the most common driver distractions and one of the main causes of traffic accidents. This research aims to investigate the impact of mobile phone use on drivers’ behaviour in urban and rural road networks. A driving simulator experiment with 50 participants was carried out, who drove under different types of mobile phone distraction (no distraction, handheld conversation, handsfree conversation, speaker mode conversation). Within the framework of the statistical analysis, discrete choice models were designed to investigate the influence of mobile phone use, as well as other relevant parameters, on driving behaviour considering maximum driving speed, reaction time and standard deviation of lateral position. Based on the findings of the present research, mobile phone conversation is significantly affecting driving performance causing lower drivers’ maximum speeds and higher reaction times and standard deviations of the lateral position.