title: Do German drivers use their smartphones safely?-Not really!
abstract: Research in the laboratory as well as in naturalistic driving studies has shown that texting while driving seems to be the most dangerous driver distraction. However, there is still some discussion about the extent to which drivers adapt their behavior to the traffic situation. Accordingly, they might use their phones only in easy driving situations but refrain from doing so when driving becomes more demanding. For Germany, no reliable data on these topics could be found although overall smartphone use has also increased exponentially in this country. As observational studies have proven to be an effective means to gather these data, such a study was done observing 11,837 drivers in three big German cities (Braunschweig, Hannover, Berlin) during daytime. An alarmingly high rate of texting while driving was found (4.5%) as compared to other international studies. This was even more frequent than the use of handheld (2.2%) and hands-free (1.7%) phones combined. Thus, there seems to be a special problem in Germany with texting which should be further examined as this activity is highly distracting. Finally, there was some indication that drivers adapt their secondary task activities to the requirements of the driving task (e.g. somewhat less texting when moving than when stationary at a red traffic light). However, these adaptations were not very strong. Thus, drivers seem to underestimate the dangers due to distraction. This could be a starting point for countermeasures which increase this awareness of danger.
authors: Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institut für Psychologie, Ingenieur- und Verkehrspsychologie, Gaußstraße 23, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany. Electronic address: Mark.vollrath@tu-braunschweig.de.
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Vollrath
authors: Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institut für Psychologie, Ingenieur- und Verkehrspsychologie, Gaußstraße 23, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors: Anja Katharina
authors: AK
authors: Huemer
authors: Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institut für Psychologie, Ingenieur- und Verkehrspsychologie, Gaußstraße 23, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors: Carolin
authors: C
authors: Teller
authors: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Psychologie, Ingenieurpsychologie & Kognitive Ergonomie, Rudower Chaussee 18, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Anastasia
authors: A
authors: Likhacheva
authors: Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institut für Psychologie, Ingenieur- und Verkehrspsychologie, Gaußstraße 23, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors: Jana
authors: J
authors: Fricke
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001364:Awareness; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000068997:Smartphone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060145:Text Messaging
keywords: Drinking; Driver characteristics; Driver distraction; Eating; Epidemiology; Handheld cell phone; Observational study; Prevalence; Safety; Situational influences; Smoking; Texting while driving