July 19, 2004
Hands-Free Cellphones May Be No Safer Than Hand-Held
Headsets were supposed to address concerns about the safety of talking on the phone while driving, but new research suggests that hands-free devices may actually add to the overall risk, according to the WSJ.
"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.".
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