Examining the effects of texting, web surfing, and navigating apps on urban driving behavior and crash risk
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/wiwt2358Keywords:
distraction, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Google Maps, texting, web surfingAbstract
This research aims to assess the impact of using texting, web surfing and navigating applications on driving behavior and road safety in urban environments. The study involved collecting driving data from 36 young adult drivers through a driving simulator experiment, supplemented by a survey to gather participant characteristics and driving profiles. The driving experiment included periods of distraction-free driving and intervals when drivers used Facebook (scrolling through the feed), Google Maps (searching for specific locations), and Facebook Messenger (texting). Data analysis utilized linear and binary logistic mixed models to explore the effects of texting and web surfing on speed and its deviation, headway distance and its deviation, and crash risk. Results indicate that using texting, web surfing and navigating applications while driving elevate crash risk by 10% and decrease speed, speed deviation, headway, and headway deviation by 9%, 23%, 6%, and 18%, respectively. These findings underscore the crucial role of specific smartphone applications in shaping driving behavior and emphasize the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the associated risks in urban driving scenarios.
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Author Biographies
Maria G. Oikonomou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Maria G. Oikonomou is a Civil Engineer, Ph.D. candidate, and Researcher in the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). She holds a Civil Engineering degree from NTUA with a specialization in Transportation Engineering since 2019. She has over four years of experience in transportation planning and engineering. She has participated in three research projects and has thirty scientific publications (six in scientific journals, twenty-two in proceedings of scientific conferences with full paper review, and two in proceedings of scientific conferences with abstract review and presentation).
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing—original draft.
Foteini Orfanou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Foteini Orfanou is a Civil Engineer, PhD Candidate and Research Associate at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens. She holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering, under the specialization in Transportation Engineering from NTUA (2010) and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Transportation Systems from the Technical University of Munich (TUM, 2014). She has worked as a researcher at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at NTUA and at the Chair of Traffic Engineering and Control at TUM, participating in research projects related to traffic management, traffic safety, incident analysis, parking management and driver assistance systems. She has presented and published several scientific papers in scientific journals and international conferences.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing—review & editing.
Marios Sekadakis, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Marios Sekadakis is a Civil – Transportation Engineer, Research Associate and PhD Candidate at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). In 2020, he graduated in Civil Engineering from the NTUA majoring in Transportation Engineering. He has more than four years of experience in several aspects of traffic engineering and road safety.
CRediT contribution: Data curation, Methodology.
Dimosthenis Pavlou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Dr. Dimosthenis (Dimos) Pavlou is a Civil-Transportation Engineer, PhD, and a Research Associate at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens. He holds a Civil Engineering Diploma (which is also a M.Eng.) (2008), a MSc (2010), a PhD (2016), a post-doc (2018), and currently he is completing his 2nd post-doc dissertation (2022). He is also, an Adjunct Lecturer in the courses “Traffic Flow Analysis and Management”, “Intelligent Transportation Systems” and “Analysis and Transportation Planning” in the School of Engineering, Department of Surveying and Geo-Informative Systems, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
CRediT contribution: Formal analysis, Methodology.
George Yannis, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Dr. George Yannis is Professor and Director of the Department of Transportation Planning Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). He leads the NTUA Road Safety Observatory, a Center of Research and Innovation Excellence with global recognition for its highly valuable contribution to safer mobility for all, in Greece, in Europe and worldwide. He has a thorough and broad understanding of the transportation sector, through his active involvement for more than 30 years as engineer, academic, advisor and decision maker in all areas of transportation planning and engineering at national and international level, with emphasis on data science.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Supervision.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Maria G. Oikonomou, Foteini Orfanou, Marios Sekadakis, Dimosthenis Pavlou, George Yannis
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