Study: Hands-Free Phone Not Safer for Drivers

Medicine, Science & Technology Forum

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.

Source: Reuters

I can testify that hands-free cell phone use is for me personally by far safer.

It is easier for me to curl my long blond hair with my portable Conair curling iron if I don't have to squeeze the stupid phone between my shoulder and my ear!! And it totally distracts me from driving if I end up burning my neck because I can't see what the hell I'm doing in the rearview mirror if my head is kinked like that to hold the phone. So of course I have burned my neck a few times before I got the hands-free.

One such painful incident made me drop a very important phone call because it took too long to locate my stupid phone on the floorboard. You try that: hold on to the hot curling iron in one hand (you can't put it down anywhere, it burns leather), look for the phone on the floor with your other hand, and steer with the steering wheel between your legs. It's easy if you are a guy, but I like to wear tight skirts and it's much more difficult - I have to first hike up my skirt and I sure in the hell don't want to burn myself down there!! And due to my good driving skills I did not hit the guy standing at the bus stop! He would never have known what hit him if I was an unsafe driver!!

So you can see hands-free is much safer, now I never burn my neck anymore!

Those stupid Swedes need to study it for hours with 48 people?? A Finn can figure that out with one $19.99 curling iron in 5 minutes!

Did they also test distraction caused by talking with passangers?? Or the distraction of trying to follow the animated conversation in the back seat which is carried out in your rear view mirror live, in full color???? It would also be good to find out if hand geastures of speakers should be limited to one hand only, especially in some countries of the European Union. I found it impossible at times to see the road for all the arm waving.

Yeah pretty lame. The distraction is definitely the conversation, no different from listening intently to a radio program, speaking to a passenger - even getting lost in thought. I can't count the times that I've been driving fairly windy roads at a respectable clip and suddenly realizing that I have no recollection of what it was like driving the last ten minutes or so - it's kind of scary to think about the auto-pilot engaging and not even realize it.

The one thing that I will give hands-free over standard phones is that.. well.. your hands are free. it's no less distracting, indeed, however you don't have to fumble the phone if you need to make a sudden maneuver, shift, lane change, signal, windshield wiper, horn, etc.

Alertness while driving comes and goes even without something to hold your attention, but there's no substitution for having an extra hand when you need it.