The Prevalence of Cell Phone Use while Driving in Alberta Abu Sadat Nurullah Department of Sociology University of Alberta

Background Gradual increase of cell-phone use while driving Talking on a cell phone increases crash risk by about 4 times (McEvoy et al. 2005; Redelmeier and Tibshirani, 1997)

Objective To explore the current state of self-reported cell phone use while driving among Albertans aged between 18 and 65+. Albertans attitude towards the danger and banning/ allowing the use of cell phone while driving

Previous Research In Canada, 37% of drivers reported using a cell phone while driving in the past week, although 66% thought it is a very serious road safety problem (Vanlaar et al. 2006) Alberta has the highest rate of cell phone use while driving, and Nova Scotia the lowest (Burns et al )

Theories Cognitive and visual deficiency (Drews, Pasupathi, & Strayer, 2008; Strayer, Drews, & Crouch, 2006) Theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Walsh & White, 2006; 2007)

Methodology Data The 2007 Annual Alberta Survey the overall response rate is 36.5 % Sample 1,185 participants

Results Talk on a cell phone while operating a vehicle: 49.1% Dont have a cell phone:21.2% turn off6.2% voic 6.6% get off the road7.3% other6.9% do not drive1.7%

Results (cont…) Talk on a cell phone while operating a vehicle is dangerous:yes = 92.8% (87.3%) How dangerous?slightly6.5% (10.1%) v/dangerous67.5% (50.8%)

Results (cont…) Collision risk: unlikely26.6% (41.8%) v/likely69.1% (56.5%) Support a provincial law that bans the use of cell phones while driving: yes = 72.7% (59.1%)

Logistic Regression

Significance Understanding the prevalence of cell-phone related impaired driving among Albertans aged 18 to 64+ Diverse usage pattern of cell phone while driving within various socio-economic and demographic segments of the population in Alberta

Policy Implication Restricting / banning the use of cell phones while driving in Alberta Enforcement of cell phone bans produced longer term reductions in use (McCartt & Hellinga, 2007) 46 countries have banned the use of handheld phones while driving In Canada, ban in Newfoundland and Labrador, Québec, and Nova Scotia (and in Ontario as of Oct. 26, 2009)

Limitation and Future Direction Self-reports survey Other in-vehicle information (e.g., GPS) and entertainment systems (e.g., music player, TV), and other distracting factors (e.g., eating and drinking, applying make-up) Using GPS/ satellite monitoring to trace the actual use of cell phones while driving

Thank you