Distraction effects of manual texting and voice messaging when approaching pedestrian crossings on urban roads: a driving simulator study

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of texting while driving on driver performance and road safety. In order to achieve this goal, 51 participants took part in a driving simulator study that replicated an urban environment. During the trials, text messages with questions of equal cognitive weight were sent to be answered via 1) a manual texting application or 2) a voice message application. A baseline condition with no secondary task was also tested. Along the simulated route, there were some events that could cause a crash, like pedestrians crossing on-and-off crosswalks, to see how well the drivers could handle important situations while texting on their phones. The overall findings indicate that both texting and voice messaging activities while driving have detrimental effects on driving performance and road safety, putting drivers at high risk. The practical applications of the findings of this study are primarily directed at policymakers and stakeholders for the development of effective and targeted campaigns. In the same way, the results could help the mobile phone and the auto industries make systems that can detect and stop driver distraction in real-time by controlling the most important predictors of distraction.