Young driver distraction by text messaging: A comparison of the effects of reading and typing text messages in Chinese versus English

• Driving performance was impaired significantly by reading and typing text messages.
• Both Chinese and English involved texting distraction impaired driving performance.
• Reaction time, driving lane undulation, and driving speed fluctuation were analyzed.
• Typing text messages distracted drivers more than reading them.
• The languages did not differ significantly in degree of distraction of text messaging..
• Both languages’ reading and typing text messages while driving should be prohibited.

BackgroundReading and typing text messages while driving seriously impairs driving performance and are prohibited activities in many jurisdictions. Hong Kong is a bilingual society and many people write in both Chinese and English. As the input methods for text messaging in Chinese and English are considerably different, this study used a driving simulator approach to compare the effects of reading and typing Chinese and English text messages on driving performance.MethodThe driving performances of 26 participants were monitored under the following conditions: (1) no distraction, (2) reading and typing Chinese text messages, and (3) reading and typing English text messages. The following measures of driving performance were collected under all of the conditions: reaction time (RT), driving lane undulation (DLU), driving speed fluctuation (DSF), and car-following distance (CFD) between test and leading cars.ResultsRT, DLU, and DSF were significantly impaired by reading and typing both Chinese and English text messages. Moreover, typing text messages distracted drivers more than reading them. Although the Chinese text messaging input system is more complicated than the English system, the use of Chinese did not cause a significantly different degree of distraction.ConclusionBoth reading and typing text messages while driving should be prohibited regardless of whether Chinese or English is used.