cellular phone use while driving is common but controversial. Being distracted while operating a motor vehicle has been shown to increase the risk of an accident. Because of this, many state governments have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Washington, California, Oregon and Arizona are just a few states of the many that penalized drivers caught using their mobile phones while behind the wheel. The same restrictions apply to drivers worldwide.
While the popularity of mobile phones has grown enormously in the past couple decades, the demand for hands-free kits increased as well. In several states it?s mandatory to use a hand-free device while operating a vehicle. Hefty fines are issued to drivers who don’t abide by their state governing rules regarding cell phone use while driving. While some say it?s tough to determine how many accidents were results from cell phones, what is certain is that talking on the phone and texting while driving both lead to distraction. Case studies show that driver inattentiveness is the leading cause of car accidents.
A new study confirms that reaction time of cell phone users are astoundingly delayed, hightening the risk of accidents. Researchers indicate that “If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone,” said University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer. “It’s like instantly aging a large number of drivers.”
Retailers of hands-free cell phone kits typically point out that driving with a cell phone in one hand and the steering wheel in the other is dangerous. The implication is that using the hands-free kind isn?t. New research agrees with their selling point. A review of studies into the ergonomic and psychological issues of using a cell phone behind the wheel, concludes that when it comes to driving safety, there is certainly a difference between hands-free bluetooth users versus hands-on cell phone use by drivers.
In 2008, over 800,000 people were texting, making calls, or using a handheld cell phone while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle in the United States. Statistics that same year reported that distracted driving killed roughly 6,000 Americans, and injured 330,000. As always there is proof in the numbers, so clearly cell phone use while driving a major cause of accidents.
The consistency of increased crash risk between hands-free use and hand held cell phone use is at odds with legislation in many locations that prohibits cell phone use while driving. Talking, dialing or texting on a cell phone is more distracting than using a hands-free devices that offer voice-dialing and handsfree operation. It is apparent that hands-free use will reduce or eliminate that increased risk of an accident.
