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Another Study Confirms Hands-Free Texting While Driving Is Unsafe
schwit1 writes with a followup to a story we discussed in April about how using voice-activated texting while driving was no safer than using your hands. Now, a study by AAA has found that using voice commands to send texts is more dangerous than simply talking on your cellphone.
"Texting a friend verbally while behind the wheel caused a 'large' amount of mental distraction compared with 'moderate/significant' for holding a phone conversation or talking with a passenger and 'small' when listening to music or an audio book, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found in a report released today. Automakers have promoted voice-based messaging as a safer alternative to taking hands off the wheel to place a call and talk on a handheld phone. About 9 million infotainment systems will be shipped this year in cars sold worldwide, with that number projected to rise to more than 62 million by 2018, according to a March report by London-based ABI Research. 'As we push towards these hands-free systems, we may be solving one problem while creating another,' said Joel Cooper, a University of Utah assistant research professor who worked on the study. 'Tread lightly. There's a lot of rush to develop these systems.' The findings from the largest U.S. motorist group bolster National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman's call to ban all phone conversations behind the wheel, even with hands-free devices."
And yet, I could stand at almost any intersection with a camera, and I bet at least 25% of all drivers are in the middle of talking or texting despite it being illegal. Some days, it seems like more.
As long as people still believe that they are so highly evolved they can do this without problem, it will continue to be one. Not unlike people who believe they're still good drivers when they're half hammered.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
One of 2 reasons for your accident.
1. You took longer than you think to read the name.
2. You were following too closely.
Answer is most likely 2. People follow MUCH too closely nowadays.
Slashdot is like Playboy: I read it for the articles
Several ways. First, looking at the clock, radio, speedometer, etc is done at a time convenient for and chosen by the driver. There is no sense of urgency about it - it is not an interrupt. Most drivers are not going to be looking at those things except for when it is relatively safe to do so. On the other hand, many (most?) people treat an incoming phone call or text as something that must be dealt with RIGHT NOW.
Secondly, looking at those other things takes very little thought, and thus causes very little distraction. Reading a phone number or name takes a lot more thought, and distracts you for a longer period of time.
And yet, I could stand at almost any intersection with a camera, and I bet at least 25% of all drivers are in the middle of talking or texting despite it being illegal.
Illegal's not the problem. If it were safe yet illegal it would only be their problem. Since it's so dangerous it's everybody's problem.
Perhaps part of the problem is that there are laws that impact no one but the person breaking the law. That leads to disrespect for law in general.
Free Martian Whores!
It's completely logical.
Your passenger, like you, has a significant interest in surviving your trip, and will tend to react by quieting down when you're in a tough spot, or help you out with a "Watch out!" if you're about to, say, pull into an occupied lane next to you.
The person on the other end of the phone, by contrast, isn't there with you and has no understanding of your current situation.
The basic thing to understand, though, about why hands-free makes no significant difference is that it's not the driver's hands or eyes that are the limiting factor, it's the driver's brain.
I am officially gone from
Because they aren't distracting. You probably check the gauges, etc dozens of times during a trip, and never even realize it. If I asked you what the gauge said a few seconds after you looked at it you could probably not even tell me. However, if you got a text or phone call, I bet I could ask you 10 minutes later and you would know exactly who it was from. In the case of gauges no real 'processing' or memory is involved - you are just looking for a quick confirmation of something, and as soon as you have that you can forget about it. Not so with texts and phone calls.
Perhaps part of the problem is that there are laws that impact no one but the person breaking the law. That leads to disrespect for law in general.
So you want your driver's license taken away because one of your neighbors killed someone while texting behind the wheel?
No, no, no... I want your driver's license taken away until you can prove that you're not a selfish fuckhead who is incapable of operating 2 tons of Rolling Steel Death without endangering everyone around you.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
The problem is many people are dangerous even without the cell phone or texting. Removing those things doesn't make them safe.
BUT, most people are more dangerous when driving while texting or using a cell phone. Adding that makes them less safe.
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
From previous Slashdot discussions I've come to learn that:
Safe distance following Inviting an unsafe maneuver by creating a gap that fellow drivers will want to move into - keep gap short Creating safe distance following (e.g. as a result of the above Creating an unsafe situations for cars behind you - quit worrying about safe driving distance you pansy Driving less than 7 miles over the speed limit Not going along with the flow of traffic, creating unsafe situations for all - get off the road, grandpa! Stopping at a stop sign Freaking out the car behind you - practice a rolling stop instead Stopping for a yellow when it's safe to do so Dancing with the whiplash devil - just floor it man, you can make it! Passing cyclists with a wide berth while staying in your own lane Freaking out everybody from the opposite direction anyway, creating unsafe situations for all - try to hit the cyclists with your passenger side mirror, bonus points if they don't fall, even though they don't belong on the road anyway Signaling your turn in advance of the turn Confusing other traffic, leading them to believe you're trying to crash into a mailbox - turn the wheel, and at the same time turn on your blinker, saves energy tooI wish this was post was a lot less serious, but you can check previous stories on people's driving behavior. There's plenty people partaking in traffic who honestly believe that 'technically safe driving' is what causes unsafe situations, and you really should err on the technically unsafe side to be safe.