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The inconvenient truth about mobile phone distraction: understanding the means, motive, and opportunity for driver resistance to legal and safety messages

Wells, H; Savigar-Shaw, L; Briggs, G

The inconvenient truth about mobile phone distraction: understanding the means, motive, and opportunity for driver resistance to legal and safety messages Thumbnail


Authors

L Savigar-Shaw

G Briggs



Abstract

Evidence for how phone-use impacts driving is clear: phone-using drivers are four times more likely to crash; demonstrate poor hazard detection ability; take longer to react to any hazards they notice; and can look yet fail to see. However, drivers are often resistant to research findings and, despite it being an enforceable offence, many still admit to using their phones. This paper combines what is known about the dangers of distracted driving with what research tells us about how drivers think about themselves, the law, and their risk of both crashing and being prosecuted. These blended insights explain why evidence may be resisted both by drivers and policy makers, highlighting the inconvenient truth of the distraction caused by mobile phone-use.

Acceptance Date Mar 31, 2021
Publication Date Mar 3, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal The British Journal of Criminology: an international review of crime and society
Print ISSN 0007-0955
Publisher Oxford University Press
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azab038
Keywords Mobile phone, distraction, roads policing, driving, risk, resistance
Publisher URL https://academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjc/azab038/6262317

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