Hands-Free Or Voice-Activated Texting Not Safer

Meshach writes "A recent study (PDF) detailed in the Washington Post verifies that using hands-free or voice-activated texting is no safer than texting with your hands while you are driving a car. Using a handheld device to tap out a text message while driving has been banned in many states and provinces. From the article: '"One of the common comments was that they felt an inclination to look down at the screen to see if it heard them correctly, so that could be one possible explanation of why they were not looking at the roadway more frequently," Yager said. She said drivers said they felt safer when using voice-activated texting than when entering messages on a keyboard. "Perhaps it is because they view it as safer and therefore it must be, but still they have this inclination to look down at the screen," she said. "We found that their driving performance suffered equally with both methods." As has been proven in studies of cellphone conversations, Yager said drivers engaged in any form of texting were distracted by the communication effort.'"

Re:Has more to do with focus than the behavior.

[s1d3track3D]

unless your Mr. Bean [youtube.com]

Re:only partially agree

[Anonymous Coward]

Then you're risking lives of 50 other people you're transporting.

Re:only partially agree

[ColdWetDog]

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