TY - JOUR AB - Distraction is currently one of the most common causes of road traffic accidents. Conventional mobile phones have long been an integral part of our everyday lives, but by now, everyday life without multifunctional smartphones is no longer conceivable for most people. In addition to "merely" making calls and writing text messages, the options offered by mobile communications allow a multitude of further applications as well as potential distractions in traffic. However, distraction while driving is particularly dangerous. In 2017, distraction and inattention were presumed to be the main causes of accidents for 35 % of car occupants involved in accidents and 34 % of those killed (Statistik Austria 2017). The results of the studies conducted by the Austrian Road Safety Board [Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit, KFV] confirm the risk of distraction as it was observed in 50 % of the observations of drivers. This applies in particular to young drivers. 50 % of them accept calls while driving and 38 % do so without using a hands-free car kit. Another problem is that other mobile phone or smartphone activities, such as reading text messages (33 %), writing (25 %) or using other messenger services (25 %), are very popular while driving, especially among young drivers. It has been shown that distraction due to mobile phones or smartphones greatly increases the risk of traffic accidents. The driving simulator study conducted by the Austrian Road Safety Board has also demonstrated that reading and typing on mobile phones or smartphones leads to significantly slower reactions to critical events. There is frequently a lack of awareness of the dangers of distraction in traffic, which has led to an increased risk potential in recent years. The projection of a previous representative survey of 1,000 Austrian motorists aged 17 and over, commissioned by the Austrian Road Safety Board and carried out in 2014 by Marketmind with a focus on the mobile phone or smartphone at the wheel, showed that in Austria around 200,000 text messages are sent daily from the car. A targeted comprehensive package of measures is therefore needed. AU - Burger, Sheila AU - Pilgerstorfer, Monika DO - 10.7396/IE_2020_C ET - 8/2020 KW - smartphone mobile phone traffic accident LA - eng M1 - International Edition PY - 2020 SN - 1813-3495 SP - 30-38 ST - Using the Smartphone at the Wheel. Flying blind with consequences T2 - SIAK-Journal − Journal for Police Science and Practice TI - Using the Smartphone at the Wheel. Flying blind with consequences UR - http://www.bmi.gv.at/104/Wissenschaft_und_Forschung/SIAK-Journal/internationalEdition/files/Burger_IE_2020.pdf VL - 10 ID - 703 ER -