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Smartwatches like the Apple Watch are worse for driver distraction than smartphones, shows UK safety tests

UK safety tests have shown that using a smartwatch while driving is more dangerous than using a smartphone, reports the Huffington Post.

The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in Wokingham, Berks showed that a driver reading a message on an Apple Watch would take 2.52 seconds to react to an emergency manoeuvre, whereas a driver talking to another passenger would react in 0.9 seconds. Reading on an Apple Watch was even found to be more distracting than using a handheld mobile (1.85 second delay).

While the piece refers to the Apple Watch, the TRL told me that the tests were conducted with an unspecified smartwatch, and was not a full-scale study, but earlier studies have shown that even talking with someone handsfree is more distracting that holding a conversation with someone in the car.

There have been calls to ensure that the same legislation which outlaws using a handheld phone while driving also apply to using smartwatches. The UK banned the use of phones while driving back in 2003, though the message hasn’t got through to some: some ten years after the law was introduced, mobile phone use was blamed for 22 fatal collisions.

 

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Comments

  1. TechSHIZZLE.com - 9 years ago

    So in other words, they will ride the hype of the Apple Watch by blaming it for something they haven’t tested it for.

    I call bullshite.

    • ruinelsoncarneiro - 9 years ago

      “Berks showed that a driver reading a message on an Apple Watch”

      LOL

      Where did they get it?

      • silas681- - 9 years ago

        If you read the original Huffington Post artcile they have retracted that claim already. The title from Ben DID say watches LIKE Apple watch

  2. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    Sounds about right to me. Here come all the ban smart watch while driving laws. Wont be able to wear a watch without getting pulled over by this time next year.

  3. James Alexander - 9 years ago

    Who cares soon we will have automated cars right? Latest studies show humans are a major cause for accidents. HEHEHE

  4. Leonson Stapleton - 9 years ago

    so wait…. its only a distraction now that apple has entered the market? Didn’t they just complain that this watch is nothing because smart watches were already around?

  5. Distracted drivers don’t kill people, idiots/bad drivers behind the wheel kill people. And by idiots I mean people that don’t take the time to make simple smart decisions. I fall into the distracted category because I interact with my phone while driving, usually to make calls and gps. I know I don’t speak for everyone but I have not had any accidents because of being distracted. The simple truth is there is a time and place. If you must check your phone do it at a red light, simple and smart. I only drive with 1 hand to begin with so holding a phone isn’t impairing my ability to drive or make decisions while driving. If you say it is, then talking on a bluetooth isn’t going to fix that.

    I find people fixing make up and eating a big mac while driving way more dangerous than someone talking on the phone, obviously texting is a different story. I have a pebble smartwatch and I believe it has actually made driving safer for me. I no longer have to fiddle to look for my phone to see if an important message has come in because I can simply check my wrist (at the appropriate time of course).

    • silas681- - 9 years ago

      Whilst I am sure that your OPINION is valid, the research shows you are………dead………wrong. Look at your phone when you are driving and you take a chance. I hope you don’t kill anyone when you take that chance. Simple as that……. nothing to argue with…… You muppet!

      Distracted drivers don’t kill people? Ffs!

      • Christopher Fong - 9 years ago

        Distracted Drivers DEFINITELY kill people, car radios when they were first introduced were the cause of accidents – we didn’t ban car radios, despite the deaths attributed to it – we increased the responsibility of the driver. Every driver is different and has different preferences – things like muscle memory takes time to acclimate, when driving a friend’s car who had a capacitive touchscreen interface for adjusting controls I wasn’t changing the station or adjusting the volume while driving his vehicle because I wasn’t yet acclimated to the system – I felt much more comfortable dismissing a phone call from my phone while driving in that car because I can do that without looking.

        In my own car I definitely feel comfortable changing the volume (can do that without looking) or changing the station, I look down for a quick glance but can see the road with my peripheral vision – as I get older maybe doing tasks like that will diminish, but again – every person is different.

        Using my Pebble is even easier because I have much more vision/scope in my periphery versus looking down on my car radio to change stations. I don’t even press a button to dismiss the notification because it automatically goes away.

        Some people don’t adjust their car radios at all when they are driving or don’t look at billboards or question how billboards are legal because they are not comfortable with it, but some drive just fine…but again, every person is different.

        You have some people who even want to ban bluetooth headsets because that causes accidents (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/12/13/9418504-us-calls-for-ban-on-in-car-phone-use-even-with-bluetooth?lite)

        To me, if you ban bluetooth headsets you HAVE to ban car radios, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some people are more distracted with bluetooth headsets than car radios because again everybody is different.

        We tend to demonize new tech (http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/the-1930s-battle-over-car-radios-and-distracted-driving-52823).

        I am guilty of it too, when I see commercials promoting the rear camera and how it prevented a mom from hitting a school bus I feel they are promoting a bad habit, is that mother too dependent on a rear camera in her vehicle, what happens if that camera is malfunctioning or she drives another vehicle that doesn’t have that feature – is she fit too drive? But in reality, I can’t drive a manual car, I never drove a vehicle before they introduced power steering or airbags…advancements need to happen to make us safer, and as another poster states we are getting closer to autonomous vehicles anyway and human driving will most likely be banned in the distant future.

        My parents look at the way I use a computer and wonder if I am focused and not distracted with multiple tabs open in my browser and multiple applications opened at the same time – on multiple monitors! Again, every person is different.

    • BlueLightAlarm - 9 years ago

      The problem with people like you is that it’s not just yourself you’re going to injure or kill, it’s other, innocent people because you can’t go for longer than 10 minutes without checking your fucking phone! Nobody who has an accident sets out to have one, they all thought they were a good enough driver or clever enough to read a text while also driving. It’s not until they kill a 12 year old kid that they realise they’re not the Stig after all

  6. vkd108 - 9 years ago

    Great video, thanks for posting.

  7. simonkane007 - 9 years ago

    How can the Apple Watch that hasn’t even been released yet be to blame. Yet no Android smart watch companies were mentioned even though their smart watches have been around for time. I find the test from TRL strange as even Samsung claim to promote safe driving yet have sold the most smart watches to date. So I call bullshit too!

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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