Texting, talking, trawling and tunes: Risk perceptions, phone dependence and different types of phone use while driving behaviors

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the links between specific types of mobile phone use while driving (MPUWD) behaviors (i.e., reading, writing, talking and using media on a hand-held phone) and risk perceptions (i.e., the perceived risk of legal and non-legal sanctions), as well as to understand the influence that a psychological dependence on phone use might have toward these relationships.

Methods: Using a variety of recruitment initiatives, a total of 821 drivers completed an online questionnaire about their phone use behaviors, MPUWD behaviors, and MPUWD risk perceptions. Participants were eligible if they were aged 18 years or over, held a Queensland (Australia) driver's license, and owned a mobile phone device.

Results: First, a repeated measures ANOVA showed that participants engaged in and perceived each of the four MPUWD behaviors differently. Of note, writing MPUWD behaviors were engaged in the least frequently and perceived as the riskiest, while using media was engaged in the most frequently and perceived as the least risky. Second, cross-tabulations and concurrent chi-square tests showed that there were significant differences in the MPUWD behaviors of pre-defined "likely dependent" phone users, compared to "likely non-dependent" users. In fact, likely dependent users were up to three times more likely to engage in MPUWD behaviors frequently compared to the latter group. Finally, structural equation modeling indicated that likely phone dependency directly predicted risk perceptions, and indirectly predicted MPUWD behaviors via the effects they had toward risk perceptions.

Conclusions: The findings of this study have suggested people hold unique perceptions about different types of MPUWD behaviors. It is also suggested that problematic phone use may play a role in not only the engagement in different types of MPUWD, but also the effectiveness of road safety countermeasures aimed at reducing this behavior.