Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I find that when I'm talking on the phone while driving - hands free or not - I have what I call a "distracted conversation". Meaning I'm so focused on the road that I don't say a lot during the call and frequently ask people to repeat things. I *feel* like I'm heavily focused on the road, and the conversation is lower on my priority list, but maybe I'm just fooling myself and I'm just as distracted as anyone else?  |
Well none of us can conduct the conversation and drive and not have it impair our ability to react to unexpected events. You'll either be largely neglecting the conversation or you'll be largely neglecting the driving. Most people do the latter. And that's another conversation altogether, where there shouldn't even be a debate about texting.
I completely disagree with burtcom that talking hands-free is
as dangerous as texting. The studies do not bear that out nor does it make sense. That is not to say that talking hands-free is not dangerous (it tests out as being about as dangerous as driving while borderline intoxicated), but as least your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road. Your mind is distracted, but that cannot be as bad as having hands off the wheel, eyes in your lap and mind distracted all at once. I must admit that I didn't even know texting while driving was an issue until I saw the NYT article last weekend that Jason posted the link to.
On doogald's comment, I'm not actually criticizing the people doing the study. I'm criticizing our society for being one in which enough people do this stupid thing so as to have made it an issue worth studying. I think the hands-free cell question is much more worth studying because it raises a lot of interesting questions about cognition like why discussions with a passenger don't show the same impairment and whether there is a difference based on the type of hands-free system used (in-ear vs audio sound system etc.).