California’s lawmakers may want to take a closer second look at their law banning the use of hand held phone sets while driving. Yet another study shows that hands-free driving, or the use of a hands-free set to have a conversation while driving, is not much safer either.
This new study carries more weight because it was conducted by the National Safety Council. The National Safety Council found that there is a widespread sense of false security where hands-free sets are concerned, and many American drivers are under the assumption that hands-free sets are much safer than hand-held cell phones. They may believe that the risk of being involved in an accident is much lower or maybe even nil, just because they are using a hands-free set instead of holding a cell phone in their hand. In fact, the study finds that 80% of American motorists have this false belief.
But when the National Safety Council analyzed the results of as many as 30 studies, it found that the use of hands-free devices to have a conversation while driving, was actually not safer than using a hand-held phone. In both of these cases, the accident risks increased because of the distractions caused by the conversation, and therefore, a hands-free set was just as dangerous as the use of a hand-held cell phone.
The problem is that far too many motorists have become lured by the multitasking phenomenon, and seriously believe that they can perform at least 2 to 4 activities while driving, without any safety challenges. However, the brain does not multitask as easily as people assume it does, and therefore, the level of distraction continues to remain high even when you are having a conversation using a head set.
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