An eye-tracking study on the road examining the effects of handsfree phoning on visual attention

Abstract

One well documented source of distraction in traffic is phoning. The negative effect of phoning is not only attributed to the effects of operating the device, but it is also caused by the division of attention between driving and the conversation. Therefore, one could argue that handsfree phoning is not per se safer than handheld phoning. Indeed, a number of studies has indicated that handsfree phoning and handheld phoning produce the same performance deficits. In the present study, we examine the effects of handsfree phoning on eye-movement patterns while driving in traffic. Thirty participants made two consecutive trips of about 14 km on a three-lane highway. During one of these two trips, they received a phone call on a handsfree device in the vehicle. The analysis of the eye-tracking variables indicate that road signs, other vehicles, and the speedometer are fixated less. At the same time, the visual scan pattern suggests a wider spatial distribution of eye fixations during a handsfree phone call. Taken together, these findings seem to suggest that during handsfree phoning, the gaze behavior is determined to a lesser degree by the driving task; drivers seem to fixate less on traffic related information. However, future research is needed to provide further evidence to confirm this conclusion and to investigate if (or under which conditions) these differences will actually result in less safer driving when phoning handsfree.