Hazards to Family Relationships from Cell Phone Usage While Driving

Abstract

The focus of the literature on the problems of cell phone use while driving has been on how driving is more risky while talking on a cell phone, but there are reasons to think that cell phone usage while driving is also risky to the relationships of the parties involved in the phone conversation. The same factors that make driving more risky while using a cell phone (for example, longer reaction times and impaired attention) can also make family communication in that situation more risky. This article provides a speculative theoretical analysis applying cognitive models of the effects of divided attention and distracted communication to suggest why cell phone communication when one of the family members in the conversation is driving can be risky. The analysis is applied to five hypothetical family conversation scenarios that could create difficulties.