Majority of Americans Wrongly Believe Hand-Free Cell Phones are Safer than Hand-Held Devices; Research Shows Both Equally a Risk to Driver Safety
Source: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Two-thirds of Americans who use cell phones while driving believe it is safer to talk on a hands-free cell phone than on a hand-held device according to a new study released today by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. However, scientific research shows that is simply not the case.

As the number of cell phone subscribers and proportion of drivers using cell phones continues to increase, studies that have analyzed the cell phone records of crash-involved drivers have reported that using a cell phone while driving makes you four times as likely to be involved in a crash.

“Too many Americans are driving with the false sense of security that hands-free devices are somehow safer, which could be a deadly mistake,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. “Evidence shows that using a hands-free phone while driving impairs your reaction time to critical events and increases your crash risk about the same as if you were using a hand-held phone. Drivers need to be aware of the dangers of distracted driving and pay full attention while they are behind the wheel.”

+ Cell phones and driving: Research update (PDF; 1.1 MB)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 12:29 am and is filed under Motor vehicles, Safety, Telecommunications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.