Study: Handsfree devices don't make driving, talking safer

According to an interesting study published earlier this month, driving with a cell phone is just as dangerous whether you use a handsfree device or hold the phone in your hand. The Carnegie Mellon University study found that simply listening, rather than keeping both hands on the steering wheel, is the main distraction to drivers. Neuroscientist Marcel Just tracked 29 volunteers who used a driving simulator while inside an MRI. While steering their virtual car along the winding road, some volunteers were undisturbed while others had to decide whether a statement they heard was true or false.

The study found that volunteers in the latter group hit a guardrail or veered out of their lane more often than those in the former group. Also, the MRI scans found decreased activity in brain areas that are associated with spatial processing and visual information processing.That decreased activity means the brain may have trouble multitasking both activities. "Drivers need to keep not only their hands on the wheel," Just told Science Daily. "They also have to keep their brains on the road."

It's certainly an interesting conclusion, to say the least, mostly because it suggests that handsfree devices and the laws that support them really aren't contributing to safer driving. Just also said that talking on a cell phone might involve a different level of distraction than talking to another passenger in the car. While the passenger is going to be aware of demands on the driver's attention, the person on the other end of a cell phone won't know what's going on. Still, it's not known how the two activities compare. Now, that's a study someone should really do. I'm interested to hear what you think. How does talking on a cell phone differ from listening to the radio or another person in the car?

[SouthPaw42]

These studies are mistakes.

They didn't include a car passenger talking to driver or nagging kids in backseat. I bet kids in car make you drive as bad as a drunk. If we keep this up they will have us put sound barriers in the car.

[make_or_break]

New study, same old news

Each of the past several YEARS at least one study has been published saying the same thing: phone users--cell or otherwise--are more intent on concentrating on their phone conversations than on the task they're supposed to be doing. So WHY is this newsworthy? It's retreading across old ground that others have already gone over.

[E-chiro]

Get rid of all calls, handsfree or not

I would agree that one of the differences is that a passenger is aware of the driving conditions and can often adjust their distraction level (e.g., not asking complicated questions when there's a lot of erratic traffic moving around). I wouldn't feel guilty about ignoring a passenger if they could see the reason I wasn't responsive was because I was making a turn or something. I wish there was a way to outlaw all cell phone calls made from moving cars. I'm surprised that people get outraged over Samantha Power but don't care that people using cell phones drive about as well as drunk drivers.

Before too many of the "well, radios and kids are equal distractions too so we shouldn't outlaw cell phones" contingent comes out, I want to point out that just because the radio also can distract you doesn't mean that we shouldn't prevent what we can. That's like saying that cocaine use should be legal even though it can kill you, because people already smoke legally and that kills people too. Bad logic.

[yanchineseguy]

So what is most distracting?

I agree that there are many distractions (phone, radio, passengers, accident scenes, etc.) that people must contend with while driving, and they probably pose different levels of distraction to different drivers. I've heard that listening to audio books takes more concentration, and therefore is more distracting, than listening to the radio.

My personal experience is that if there's complete silence in the car, my mind tends to wander and I sometimes get lost in thought, and I often find that to be worse than external distractions.

[elerner61hotmail]

If you gotta think...

If you're engaged in any activity while driving that requires you to think and pay active attention to anything other than the act of driving, then I'm against it. When you're engaged in a phone call you're actively involved. If you can't correctly respond to the discussion then you can't complete your task. Similarly, I would put listening to an audio book on that same list. If you don't pay attention you would constantly be asking "what did he just say" and rewinding.Although I would say an audio book would be ok on a highway, but not in busy local traffic. When you're listening to music it's a secondary activity. One exception might be a musician/writer/conductor that is paying particular attention to the music for specific details.

[ironsmithfe]

This is very true

I've known this to be true for myself for years.

I found that I'm much less likely to forget a blinker or slow in a school zone when I'm alone in a car vs. someone else in the car talking with me. I don't have that problem when listening to talk radio however, so it cannot be just the talking it must the conversation that is the problem.

Now do you limit car pooling to because of this?