Hear me now: hang up and drive; Researchers confirm that cell phones and driving don't mix.

Next time you're en route, look at all the drivers on the road with you. Many of them will be on a cell phone call. And they think that as long as they pay attention and maintain a safe distance from the car in front of them, there's no harm.

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Two researchers

Using a driving simulator, associate professor of industrial engineering David Kaber, Ph.D., and doctoral student Ruiqi Ma examined the effects of cell phone use and in-vehicle automation on driver awareness.

They found that cell phone use was detrimental to driver situation awareness whether or not automation in the form of adaptive cruise control was in use. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a new technology that automatically adjusts vehicle speed to maintain a user-defined distance from the vehicle directly ahead.

"The ACC provides good benefits in terms of workload relief, but cell phone use directly counters that," Kaber said. "The impact is particularly apparent in the driver's ability to make projections on the developing driving situation," he said.

"The important thing is cell phone use negatively impacts situational awareness, and situational awareness has been linked to effective decision making and performance," Kaber added.