Two days ago, I reported on good news about technology in cars – in “Driverless Cars On Highways Could Soon Be Reality,” I reported that automobile safety advocates believe that driverless cars will be much………………….safer than cars with drivers when they debut on our nation’s roads in mass quantities in the next decade or so.
Today, I have some bad news – according to a report by the Journal of Safety Research and other studies, “driving performance” while talking on a hands-free phone is about the same as while talking on a handheld phone. The reason is that the mental distraction of a phone conversation while driving is more important than whether drivers have both hands on the steering wheel, reports a USA Today article.
In fact, driving while using a hands-free phone could be more dangerous than driving while using a handheld phone because people who speak on handheld phones often make a conscious decision to compensate for their risky behavior by driving more safely, but people who speak on hands-free phones do not, according to the Journal of Safety Research report.
The research shows that laws should be changed, said AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet.
“It’s time to consider limiting new and potentially dangerous mental distractions built into cars, particularly with the common public misperception that hands-free means risk-free,” Darbelnet told The Washington Post.
AAA, which was called the American Automobile Association, based its conclusion that hands-free cellphone use while driving should be illegal on a few studies, including a University of Utah study that measured how drivers responded to distractions as well as their reaction time, brain activity and eye movement. The study concluded that:
* Talking on a cellphone while driving posed a moderate safety risk regardless of whether the cellphone is hands-free or handheld.
* Listening and responding to e-mail while driving was an extensive safety risk.
* Listening to a radio was a minimal risk.
The National Safety Council devised a cognitive distraction scale. It shows that talking on a handheld cellphone while driving is only slightly more distracting than talking on a hands-free cellphone while driving. The former has a “workload rating” of 2.45; the latter has a 2.27. Texting while driving has a 3.06 rating.
AAA is concerned that zero states ban driving while using a hands-free phone despite the risks. By contrast, 12 states ban driving while using a handheld phone and 42 states ban texting while driving.
AAA is also concerned about the more advanced technology that is being introduced in cars and predicts that there will be a “public safety crisis” if laws that limit infotainment systems and voice-activated technology aren’t passed.
In 2013, using the cellphone while driving was a factor in 26 percent of the auto accidents in the United States, according to a National Safety Council report.
“Increasingly common voice-driven, in-vehicle technologies should be limited to use for just core driving tasks unless the activity results in no significant driver distraction,” said Darbelnet.
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