The University of Kansas research department that says using a mobile phone while driving could make you safer.
Not that we want to start a forum fight or anything, but we thought we owed it to you to share a new piece of research that suggests - and we quote - "Drivers engaging in a secondary task may pay more attention to the road".
By 'secondary task', they mean making a phone call (among other things). Apparently the University put 45 people into a driving simulator and tested their attentiveness by introducing various obstacles.
"Results from the study indicate that drivers who had to perform a concurrent task in the latter portion of the trip were more likely to stay in their lane and were less likely to commit road infractions, compared with drivers who had either a continuous or no additional task," says the report.
"These findings suggest that as driving becomes monotonous and drivers' minds drift from the road, strategically introducing an additional task, such as a talking on the phone or listening to the radio, might improve driver attention and stability," continues the report, published yesterday.
Although we suggest that you don't try that one on the angry police officer who's just pulled you over for talking on your mobile...
You can find out more by downloading the full report here. As long as you're not reading PH on your mobile while driving somewhere up the A1, that is...
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