Unless it’s an emergency, stay off the phone while driving.

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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Drivers are more likely to drift out of their lane or miss an exit if they’re talking to someone on a hands-free cell phone than if speaking with a passenger in their car, a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied points out.

THE DETAILS: A group of 41 people, mostly young adults, were paired with 41 conversation partners during the study. Using a driving simulator, the subjects navigated a 24-mile stretch of multilane highway under three different driving conditions: while alone in the car, while having a conversation with a passenger in the car, and while talking to someone in another location on a cell phone using a hands-free device. The drivers were told to exit at a rest area about 8 miles into the drive, but those talking on the cell phone were four times more likely to miss their exit. They were also more likely to make other errors like drifting out of their lanes.

WHAT IT MEANS: Stay off the phone while driving; pull over if you need to make a call or answer one. Dialing while driving is the most dangerous distraction for drivers, but talking on a cell phone is the most frequent, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Need another reason to hang up? Some researchers believe cell phone radiation can raise the risk of brain cancer and affect sperm counts; the electromagnetic field is more powerful when you’re on the phone in a fast-moving vehicle, as the phone seeks out the nearest signal.

Here are some other ways to stay safe behind the wheel:

• Avoid driving after midnight when possible. The riskiest time to be on the road is between midnight and 5 a.m., say Carnegie Mellon University researchers. During the day inexperienced teen drivers are in school, and traffic congestion reduces the number of high-speed collisions. If possible, avoid driving past the witching hour. If you can’t avoid it, take extra care to stay off the phone while driving.

• Don’t drive drowsy. Stay off the road if you had a poor night’s sleep. People who slept less than 5 hours the previous night increased their chances of an accident by 170%, according to a New Zealand study. Studies show that driving with the window open or the radio cranked up doesn’t really keep you keep you awake. But drinking some coffee or taking a short walk can help.