One-track minds mean drivers must down phones

News | HSW
01.03.2007

In the run-up to the increase in penalties for drivers using mobile phones at the wheel, due at the end of this month, US researchers claim to have found proof of the impossibility of carrying out two tasks safely at the same time.

Psychologists at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee say they have identified a neural "bottleneck" which causes the brain to slow down and put a first task partly "on hold" when presented with a second.

René Marois and Paul Dux used functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques to measure brain activity when confronted with simultaneous claims on its attention and found the blockage happened in the lateral frontal and prefrontal cortex, and also the superior frontal cortex, which could not handle the two tasks at once. Previous studies have shown that both areas play a critical role in cognitive control.

"Our research features neurological evidence that the brain cannot effectively do two things at the same time," Marois told the Nashville Tennessean newspaper. "Even those people who think using a headset with their cell phones while driving is safe, they're still doing two cognitively demanding tasks at once."

The findings come just ahead of the introduction in the UK of tougher penalties for motorists using hand-held mobile phones on the road. From 27 February, drivers risk adding three points to their licences and a £60 fine (double the current level) under the Road Safety Act 2006. Even those using hands-free sets will be liable if they are judged not to be in control of their vehicles. The police or anyone adversely affected by a driver's actions - other drivers involved in an accident, for example - could also take them to court, where car drivers will be liable for fines of up to £1000 and van, lorry and bus drivers for fines of up to £2500.

The change has been welcomed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Independent researchers TRL found that the £30 fine had made no lasting change to the likelihood of drivers using their mobiles. TRL, formerly the government-owned Transport Research Laboratory, found that using mobiles slowed drivers' response times substantially more than being at the legal alcohol limit.