Now that driving while operating a hand-held phone and/or sending/reading text messages is a primary offense in NJ, I’ve been making a deliberate attempt to ignore my RIM pager, and use by Bluetooth earpece while driving. However, I still realize that even when using the earpiece I am not as attentive to driving as I am when not using the phone at all. This study seems to agree:
Is Future Tense a driving hazard?
Today’s Future Tense (RealAudio – MP3 – iTunes) featured an interview with a researcher who found listening to someone talk seriously diminishes driving capacity.
New research at Carnegie Mellon University casts doubt on the effectiveness of of laws that require drivers to use hands-free devices when talking on cell phones.
Using brain imaging technology, researchers found listening to someone speak sharply diminishes activity in the parts of the brain used to control a car. Research subjects had the brains scanned on a driving simulator, and those listening to recorded sentences were much more likely to stray from their paths and hit virtual barriers.
Psychology professor Marcel Just says the driving simulation did not force drivers to react to dangerous situations, so his study probably underestimates the negative effects of talking while driving.
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