Phone use by drivers presents a significant global road safety issue, despite decades of research which compellingly demonstrates how and why this behaviour impacts on driving performance. While UK law bans handheld phone use, research shows that handsfree phone use offers no safety benefit over handheld use. This presentation shares collaborative research findings which highlight the cognitive roots to distraction imposed by phone use. This work explains both how and why phone conversations can increase crash risk and reduce hazard detection ability. Dr Gemma Briggs’ talk also offers a demonstration of the multiple ways in which this research has been used to contribute to policy, practice and education by showcasing a range of impact related activities and outputs. With contributions from Dr Graham Hole, Dr Helen Wells and Dr Leanne Savigar-Shaw, all of whom have collaborated on the projects and research shared in the talk.

Watch the talk here:

https://www.open.ac.uk/centres/psychology/launch-event-talks/gemma-briggs

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