Kontaxi A., Ziakopoulos A., Tselentis D., Yannis G., “A Review of the Impact of Driver Distraction on Driving Behavior and Road Safety”, Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Transportation Research, organised by The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) and the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) (Athens, Greece, 24-25 October 2019).

Driver distraction is one of the most significant driving risk factors, which can frequently lead to road accidents. The objective of this research is to present an overview and critical assessment of existing studies on distraction and the consequent results on the driving behavior and safety. For this purpose, 25 scientific papers and reports have been examined on driver distraction and its results, with focus on studies published in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. Results indicate that driver distraction impacts driver attention (hands-off the wheel, eyes-off the road), driver behavior (speed, headway, lateral position, reaction time) and road accident risk. More specifically, the decrease in speed and the increase in the distance from the central axis, that is usually observed in distracted driving and might be considered beneficial for road safety, cannot always counter-balance the increased reaction times, which eventually lead to increased accident probability.