Hands Free Law: Smart or Stupid?

First of all, "big ups" to Mary Beth whose post on this subject sparked the conversation that was the catalyst for this post.

So, about eight months ago I logged on to eCost.com (or maybe NewEgg.com, I can't remember) and I bought two little blue tooth hands-free deals for about thirteen bucks each. At the time, Sarah thought it was sort of pointless and she was right since we barely used them. I used mine a little bit, but only because I figured I better start getting used to it before the law changed. Now, of course, the law has changed and if you're going to talk on the cellio, you better have a hands free set or you could get nailed with a ticket.

So far, so good. It's just going to take time before it's totally a habit (charging them, taking them out to the car, enabling them, etc...I say enabling them because I can't stand to use it unless I'm in the car, I just can't walk around with it on all the time like a lot of people do, it sort of annoys me). We've noticed we're talking less on the phone as well while driving because most calls can wait. The main problem we're having, like many others, is that we don't know if we really think the law is going to make a difference in terms of safety. Studies show that the number one thing that distracts a driver is.....having a passenger in the vehicle! It makes sense, right? Talking with the person sitting next to you or, like many of you, having a screaming baby or a chatty toddler can be very distracting. I am the kind of person who blows by his exit because I get "caught up in conversation."

Anyway, here is an excerpt from a big study done by the University of Utah about this subject. The main idea here is that being on the cell phone, whether you're talking the old fashioned way with the phone up to the ear, OR talking on a hands free set, makes you just as crappy a driver as being sloshed. So, my conclusion on this topic is that this law is silly and communist. How's that for a polished thesis?

Drivers on Cell Phones Are as Bad as Drunks

Utah Psychologists Warn Against Cell Phone Use While Driving

Media Contacts

June 29, 2006 -- Three years after the preliminary results first were presented at a scientific meeting and drew wide attention, University of Utah psychologists have published a study showing that motorists who talk on handheld or hands-free cellular phones are as impaired as drunken drivers.

"We found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit” of 0.08 percent, which is the minimum level that defines illegal drunken driving in most U.S. states, says study co-author Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology. “If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving.”

Psychology Professor David Strayer, the study's lead author, adds: “Just like you put yourself and other people at risk when you drive drunk, you put yourself and others at risk when you use a cell phone and drive. The level of impairment is very similar.”

“Clearly the safest course of action is to not use a cell phone while driving,” concludes the study by Strayer, Drews and Dennis Crouch, a research associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology. The study was set for publication June 29 in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

The study reinforced earlier research by Strayer and Drews showing that hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as handheld cell phones because the conversation itself – not just manipulation of a handheld phone – distracts drivers from road conditions.

Human Factors Editor Nancy J. Cooke praised the study: “Although we all have our suspicions about the dangers of cell phone use while driving, human factors research on driver safety helps us move beyond mere suspicions to scientific observations of driver behavior.”

The study first gained public notice after Strayer presented preliminary results in July 2003 in Park City, Utah, during the Second International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design. It took until now for the study to be completed, undergo review by other researchers and finally be published.

Key Findings: Different Driving Styles, Similar Impairment

Each of the study"s 40 participants “drove” a PatrolSim driving simulator four times: once each while undistracted, using a handheld cell phone, using a hands-free cell phone and while intoxicated to the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level after drinking vodka and orange juice. Participants followed a simulated pace car that braked intermittently.

Both handheld and hands-free cell phones impaired driving, with no significant difference in the degree of impairment. That “calls into question driving regulations that prohibited handheld cell phones and permit hands-free cell phones,” the researchers write.

The study found that compared with undistracted drivers:

• Motorists who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly slower, were 9 percent slower to hit the brakes, displayed 24 percent more variation in following distance as their attention switched between driving and conversing, were 19 percent slower to resume normal speed after braking and were more likely to crash. Three study participants rear-ended the pace car. All were talking on cell phones. None were drunk.
• Drivers drunk at the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and drivers using cell phones, yet more aggressively. They followed the pace car more closely, were twice as likely to brake only four seconds before a collision would have occurred, and hit their brakes with 23 percent more force. “Neither accident rates, nor reaction times to vehicles braking in front of the participant, nor recovery of lost speed following braking differed significantly” from undistracted drivers, the researchers write.

“Impairments associated with using a cell phone while driving can be as profound as those associated with driving while drunk,” they conclude.

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Finally, if you're mad about playing the extra cost for a hands free device, always remember this option, it's VERY inexpensive and it'll also earn you extra attention: