Middle-aged drivers may be at higher risk of crashes because they use their cellphones regularly while driving, even with children in the car, US scientists have found.
A driver's crash risk is eight times higher if they are texting on a cellphone and, despite seeming safe, talking hands-free makes drivers four times more likely to be involved in a crash.
Previous studies on distracted driving have mainly focused on teenagers and young people, and programmes targeting this group have decreased their number of crashes.
Although older adults often use their cellphones while driving too, there is a shortage of studies on this age group.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego modified a survey they had done previously with college students, to find out more about the driving behaviours of middle-aged adults (30-64 years old).
The survey was completed by 715 people; 75 per cent of them were women and their average age was 46.
The survey asked participants questions about their driving behaviours and cellphone use, such as whether they text at red lights or in traffic, how often they use cellphones (handheld or hands-free), and whether they use a cellphone while driving with children in the car.
The results showed that 75 per cent of participants talk on cellphones hands-free, and almost 90 per cent of them consider themselves capable or very capable drivers while doing so.
Less than 30 per cent of participants knew that talking on a hands-free phone increases the risk of crashing to the same degree as driving at the legal alcohol limit.
"Unfortunately, we weren't surprised to see that relatively few people understand the risks of distracted driving," said Jessa Engelberg, lead author of the study.
"What we were really interested in was whether factors like children and work obligations had an effect on people's behaviour," she said.
The researchers were surprised to find that the presence of children in the car did not affect drivers' behaviour. Drivers continued to use their mobile phones with children as passengers, even with older children that were more likely to copy their driving behaviour.
More than one-third of participants said they felt pressured to answer work calls while driving, suggesting that there is an opportunity to reduce distracted driving by working with companies to educate both the employers and their employees.
The team took the information from the survey and used it to design an intervention, funded by the California Office for Traffic Safety.
By working with companies, the team has trained almost 7,000 employees to reduce distracted driving since the survey.
