See, this is in line with what I always thought. Anytime your attention is divided between two tasks there is no way you can do both of them well. [That includes phones, CD players, and even kids in the backseat.] While I enjoy driving and talking on the phone, many of you may assert that I am an even worse driver while doing this. Then again, some say I am a bad driver � phone or no phone … a point to which I strenuously object.
Hands-Free Phone Not Safer for Drivers After All
Talking on a mobile phone while driving your car is just as dangerous when using hands-free equipment as when holding the phone in your hand, according to a Swedish study published on Monday. The National Road Administration (SNRA) tested 48 people in driving simulators, dividing them into two groups — one with and the other without hands-free mobile phone devices.
The drivers in both groups received about 10 phone calls each during 1.5 hours of simulated driving in different conditions. The test revealed almost no difference in reaction time between the two groups.
“It is the distraction of the phone conversation that is the problem,” Ingemar Skogo, the SNRA director general, told Reuters.
Many European Union countries, though not Sweden, and some U.S. states ban talking on mobile phones while driving, because it has been proven to cause accidents. But laws often permit hands-free gadgets with headphones or loudspeakers, and millions of cell phone users have installed such devices.
The Swedish findings were in line with a recent report in the Psychological Science journal, which suggested hands-free technology may not reduce the risk of accidents because a driver’s attention, rather than problems with physically handling a cell phone, is a more important factor in safe driving. The SNRA, which carried out its study at the request of the Swedish government, said it would not recommend a law against talking on your mobile phone while driving.
Reuters
Jun 23 2003 8:30AM
I agree! I think if you were reading a book or working on your laptop while driving okay… that could be a problem…after all i can rub my belly and pat my head simotaneously! Maybe that should be part of the driving test…you know like a restriction or something if you cant. imagine what that would look like at the DMV!
I am not too keen on that law either. It makes no sense. There was a study which showed that the number one cause of accidents (other than other drivers) is not cell phones, but 1. radios and cd players, 2. other people in the car and then 3. cell phone. Well, how many people have heard any talk of laws banning radios and cds. I sure have not. And I know someone who was changing a cd at 80 miles an hour and totalled his truck.
And Josh,
Don’t forget when you come to New York, that you have to have hands free here when talking on cell phone while driving. You gotta love this state where all civil liberties even as something mundane as talking on a cell phone are being abolished because big brother Pataki knows best.
Sorry for my liberal diatribe……….