Hands-Free Headsets: Driving Danger?

Can’t imagine driving in your car without your cell phone riding shotgun? Well if the latest proposed cell phone ban goes through, you may just have to.

The National Transportation Safety Board put in a request to the nation’s statehouses last Tuesday proposing that cell phone usage while behind the wheel of a car be prohibited in all 50 states. This recommendation, if adopted by states, would outlaw all nonemergency phone calls and text messaging by anyone operating a vehicle on the road.

So how does this ban compare to the cell phone laws that are currently enforced? Well according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving is currently only banned in 10 state and the District of Columbia.

But if cell phones have been around for years, why the sudden urge to ban them? Simple: “There’s no question that using phones behind the wheel is distracting and dangerous,” says Russ Rader, Vice President of communications for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

In fact, research shows that the risk level increases fourfold when someone is talking on the phone—whether they’re using a handheld phone or using a hands-free headset—says Rader.

What it boils down to is the distraction of carrying on a conversation with somebody while you’re driving, explains Rader. A study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging used driving simulators to compare the performance of drivers not engaged in conversation against those who could hear someone talking to them through headphones. By monitoring the participants’ brain activity via an MRI, the researchers found that the portion of your brain devoted to driving becomes 37 percent less focused when you can hear others talking to you.The simple solution: To resist the temptation to talk, just keep your phone out of arm’s reach in the car. Taking your eyes off the road for a split second is all it takes for an accident to happen, says Rader.