Studies Conclude Hands-Free-calling and Apple Siri Distract Drivers

New submitter operator_error writes with a story at the L.A. Times that echoes some previous research on the relative risks of hand-held vs. hands-free phones by drivers, and comes to an even grimmer conclusion: In many cars, making a hands-free phone call can be more distracting than picking up your phone, according to a new study from AAA and the University of Utah. In-dash phone systems are overly complicated and prone to errors, the study found, and the same is true for voice-activated functions for music and navigation. A companion study also found that trying to use Siri — the voice control system on Apple phones — while driving was dangerously distracting. Two participants in the study had virtual crashes in an automotive simulator while attempting to use Siri, the study's authors reported. In response, Toyota said the study did not show a link between cognitive distraction and car crashes. "The results actually tell us very little about the relative benefits of in-vehicle versus hand-held systems; or about the relationship between cognitive load and crash risks," said Mike Michels, a Toyota spokesman. Meanwhile, many states treat hand-held devices very differently from hands-free ones; in New York, for instance, both texting and talking on a hand-held mobile phone are put in the same category, while talking on a hands-free device is covered only by more general distracted driving laws. If the Utah study is correct, maybe that's backwards. (And some evidence suggests that phone use in cars is not quite the straightforward danger that it's sometimes presented as, despite the correlation of phone use with accidents.)

Comments

So..

[rockabilly]

With this revelation will the government allow phone use now?

Re:So..

[Mr D from 63]

I've not gone back to the actual test report, and its not stated in the article, but I wonder if the test subjects were already familiar with the technologies before being tested. If you get in an unfamiliar vehicle, even finding the windshield wiper can be a big distraction. If these subjects are first time or inexperienced users, you can bet they are distracted. Do a test with folks that regularly use the technology and have developed as ease with the interfaces, and then see what the differences are.

Re:So..

[Wootery]

With this revelation will the government support me putting a 17-year old idiot behind bars for killing a loved one of mine with distracted driving?

No, the government will never support you putting someone behind bars. Imprisonment is only allowed when the government does it.

With the prevalence of cell phones today (for those counting, that would be ALL drivers on the road) and the average persons ignorance (it'll never happen to me), a deadly accident isn't a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

Yep. Just like it was before we'd invented cell phones.

I'll spell it out for you: it's always a matter of probability.

Enjoy the very freedom our society still wants to give killers on the road. Just don't bitch about it when it hits home.

So... it's only right to be upset about traffic fatalities if there are strict laws in place?

Oh yeah, I forgot. It'll never happen to you, right?

Again, this has nothing to do with cell-phone use.

Re:So..

[gstoddart]

Killing someone is already illegal, and Im of the school of thought that says having redundant laws is always a bad thing.

Except, making it illegal to do the thing which could potentially lead to you killing someone isn't redundant.

Otherwise, drunk driving, seat belts, helmets and speed limits wouldn't be necessary until you killed someone.

Distracted driving laws are intended to stop the problem in the first place, instead of waiting until people actually get killed. They allow you to fine people for doing stupid and dangerous things before someone dies.

And, judging by the number of people I see still texting and driving (badly), the only way I see this changing is through a mechanism like this. Because without fines (and hopefully demerit points), people will just keep doing it ... right up until they do kill someone.

Re:So..

[Iniamyen]

On a related note, it's been shown again and again that you can't really do more than one higher-level brain task at once. So even the people that are very very good at switching rapidly between operating a cell phone and driving are still not really doing both at the same time.

So they aren't actually performing the task of driving while they are preoccupied with their cell phone. They may as well be asleep during those periods.

Re:So..

[JesseMcDonald]

That's not necessarily a problem, though. You should be able to look away or think about something else for a short time without getting into an accident; driving should not require your full attention every millisecond of the trip. People just aren't capable of maintaining that level of attention on one thing for extended periods. Some degree of distraction is necessary if you want to remain in the proper frame of mind for driving (c.f. "highway hypnosis"). The trick is to plan ahead, allow for how quickly conditions can change, and allow yourself time to react. Naturally, that depends quite a bit on the driving conditions. Hazards can appear much more quickly when driving 25 MPH through a dense suburban residential area—where a one-second lapse could easily mask a child running out from behind a parked car—than at 70 MPH on an open highway through flat countryside with good visibility for miles around, where a lapse in attention ten times as long is unlikely to pose much of a risk.

Re:just dont

[YrWrstNtmr]

Screw you.
Drive the car. No one cares if you have to go back out and pick up that special thing from the grocery store. Coordinate that before you get in the car..
Drive the goddamn car.

But, no...you're a special snowflake that can do all of it at once, perfectly and all the time.
Hint...no, you can't. You're just a flake.

Re:Will they also ban passengers?

[kenshin33]

fiddeling with the radio is distracting too. smoking is potentially more dangerous (had one episode, never smoked again in the car, no need for a law)

Re:So does scratching your nose

[cjonslashdot]

My friend, are you saying that you don't listen to the radio while driving? And are you saying that you don't talk to other passengers while driving? Do you use a GPS system while driving?

Re:Calling Captain Obvious

[OzPeter]

The answer is clear, then. Ban A/C controls, radio, passengers and kids!

You are totally skirting around the correct solution. In 100% of crashes, the common element among all of them is the driver. Ban the driver and you solve the problem of driver distracted crashes.