Cellphone Drivers: You're Slowing Us Down!

We all have read that cellphone use while driving causes accidents, but recent studies also suggest that it causes traffic congestion in several different ways.

The most recent of these studies found that students in a driving simulator were less likely to switch lanes when the lane they were in was moving slower than the others if they were on their cellphones. This adds to a buildup of vehicles in a lane, effectively slowing both that lane and connecting lanes.	Another study shows that drivers on their cells in many ways drive like drunks: Following at greater distances and having slow response times when hitting the breaks and recovering from breaking.	Mathematicians at the University of Exeter recently determined that late breaking can cause "mystery" traffic jams that previously appeared to have no cause whatsoever. Late breaking cellphone users can cause a wave of slower and slower traffic, turning the interstate into a parking lot.