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INTRODUCTION Use of a cellular phone while driving creates a situation that may be unlike that of other driving distractions in its effect on driving. Although demographic data are limited […], The purpose of these two experiments is to investigate one possible mechanism that might account for an increase in crash risk with in-car phone use: a reduction in the functional field of view. In two between-subjects experiments, college undergraduates performed a task designed to measure the functional field of view in isolation and while performing a hands-free conversational task. In both experiments, the addition of the conversational task led to large reductions in the functional field of view. Because similar reductions have been shown to increase crash risk, reductions in the functional field of view by conversation may be an important mechanism involved in increased risk for crashes with in-car phone use. Actual or potential applications of this research include improving driver performance.

INTRODUCTION Crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that approximately 25% of all crashes are the result of inattention or distraction (Wang, Knipling, & Goodman, 1996). […], This research adopted a model of goal activation to study the mechanisms underlying interrupted task performance. The effects of interruption timing, type of interruption, and age on task time and primary task resumption time were explored under conditions in which attention was switched back and forth between two tasks, much as when drivers shift attention between attending to the road and to an in-vehicle task. The timing of interruptions had a significant impact on task resumption times, indicating that the most costly time to interrupt task performance is during the middle of a task. However, this effect was overshadowed by age-related performance decrements for older participants. Interruptions that prevented strategic rehearsal of goals resulted in longer resumption times as compared with interruptions that allowed rehearsal. Actual or potential applications of this research include the design of in-vehicle device user interfaces, the timing of in-vehicle messages, and current metrics for assessing driver distraction.