Evaluation of cell phone induced driver behavior at a type II dilemma zone

Cell phone usage may impair a driver’s decision-making at a dilemma zone. This research seeks to identify the impact of cell phone usage on different dilemma zone driver behaviors. Participants were exposed to different driving situations in a simulator where they had a phone call while driving through signalized intersections. A combination of variables was collected; therefore, this research estimates Classification and Regression Tree (CART) and stepwise logistic regression models to describe the factors influencing dilemma zone driver behavior. While the logistic regression models focus on the overall impact of the variables, the CART model develops subpopulations based on the variables’ impact. Cell phone usage, especially incoming calls on a handheld device, and the overall experiment appear to encourage conservative behavior where the drivers opt to stop even when they are “expected” to go. Unfortunately, when the drivers decide to go, they tend to make the wrong choice and run the red light. Using hands-free devices on outgoing calls appears to reduce the likelihood of performing an illegal maneuver. This represents a potential opportunity for future policy and technological advancements to improve intersection safety by only permitting outgoing hands-free calls on arterials.