I now have to check which state I’m in before phoning home — or I have to finally get a hands-free headset. From WSJ.com – As Industry Pushes Headsets In Cars, U.S. Agency Sees Danger:
Earlier this month, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., joined New York in requiring drivers to use headsets or other so-called hands-free devices when they talk on cellphones.
Pushing hands-free headsets may not make phones safer though:
A sizable body of research concludes that headsets and speaker-phones don’t improve safety because it’s the mental distraction of talking on the phone, not holding it, that causes the danger while driving. And recent research suggests the devices could actually increase risk by encouraging people to spend more time on their cellphones and drive faster while doing so.What’s more, according to a new study by NHTSA that has been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, people spent more time on the distracting task of dialing when they use headsets and voice-activated dialing systems. The new voice-activated dialing method took nearly twice as long as punching the buttons on the phone the old-fashioned way, according to the study.
What voice-activated dialing method are they talking about? My phone has a convenient key on the side. I press it, it beeps, and I say “home” in a stentorian voice — then it phones home for me. Granted, it may take two or three times — particularly if anyone’s around — but it’s much less distracting than looking at the phone’s display.
Some of these studies mix cause and effect:
In 2001, a Norwegian study of about 9,000 drivers found that hands-free users made more calls than callers who held their phones to their ears, potentially putting drivers more at risk. Meanwhile, the Swedish National Road Administration installed cameras in 40 cars and found that drivers wearing headsets drove faster than drivers holding their phones.
Maybe people who make a lot of phone calls buy a headset? And maybe people who find it harder to drive with phone in hand drive more slowly than people with a hands-free headset.
This looks like a meaningful finding though:
Braking time slowed by as much 45% for cellphone users, with no improvement for those wearing headsets.
An interesting study:
Most recently, three Utah psychology professors — Frank Drews, Monisha Pasupathi and Dr. Strayer — put 48 adults behind the wheel of a driving simulator. They found drivers talking on the phone with headsets missed four times as many exits as drivers talking to another passenger. The study notes that a fellow passenger “collaborates in the task of driving safely by referring to traffic and conversing about it … something that a person on the other end of a cellphone cannot do.”