http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/science/cars-voice-activated-systems-distract-drivers-study-finds.html
> I think many of us, when we heard that previous studies
> reported that hands-free cellphone use was little or no
> safer than handheld cellphone use thought "let's fix one
> thing at a time" or "hands-free has got to be better;
> the data is suspect."
=v= In the interests of getting our bearings, that was the
finding of the landmark study that was published 21 years
ago in the _New_England_Journal_of_Medicine_. At that time
the finding was clear, but unexplained. Research that's
gone on since 1994 has done more to explain it.
=v= The industry's response to the _NEJM_ study was quite
duplicitous, it lobbied to codify an exception for hands-
free use (and to ensure that laws against cellphone use
would be unenforceable in any event), started giving away
hands-free kits, and started a marketing campaign advising
"Safe" Cellphone Use While Driving, meaning hands-free use.
=v= The quotes you mention date from that era, and haven't
really changed. Meanwhile, research has confirmed the 1994
results many times over.
=v= As for Waze and other phone apps, they are of course
highly irresponsible. We've had dashboard-mounted GPS with
portions of maps and audio turn instructions for some time
before the same thing went into phones, but the phones take
more interaction, and as this study indicates, they also
take away concentration.
=v= Incidentally, many state laws permit GPS systems like
that but do not permit dashboard- or windshield-mounted
cellphones. But mounts for cellphones are sold widely,
and many users either don't know or pretend not to know
that they're illegal. Uber, Lyft, and its entire industry
is predicated on their use, though of course the law was
designed to be unenforceable.
<_Jym_>
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