The truth about using hands-free devices behind the wheel
Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:30AM EDT
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Yahoo! Many states (including California,New York,
Washington, the District of Columbia, and Connecticut) have imposed laws
requiringdrivers to use hands-free devices to make phone calls. New Jersey even
madeviolation of its law a first offense. But several studies over the years
havefound that talking on a hands-free device is not much safer than talking on
ahand-held device.
A study by the AmericanPsychological Association of over 500 drivers found that
talking on a cellphone cut activity in areas of the brain used for driving by
half. Driversfocusing on a phone conversation had slower reaction times, were
less likely torecall objects on the road, and had a hard time noticing traffic
around them.Researchers also noted that hands-free devices in the car posed the
samehazards as hand-held devices.
A different study by theUniversity of Utah tested drivers' use of hands-free
cellphones on the road, and found (to no one's surprise) that chatty drivers
werethe main cause of traffic problems. Apparently, drivers talking on a cell
phonewere less likely to change lanes, and spent more time following
slow-movingvehicles.
The latest research by Carnegie
Mellon University
questions hands-free laws, and whether their existence only gives drivers a
false sense of safety. To test this theory, neuroscientist Marcel Just studied
29 volunteers who used a driving simulator inside an MRI brain scanner. The
volunteers were tasked with driving a car along a virtual winding road, with
and without distractions.
Researchers found that drivers would hit the guardrail and veer out of the
center of the lane more often when they tried to answer true or false
questions. Brain scans of the distracted drivers showed brain activity
decreased in areas that process visual and spatial information, functions that
are crucial for navigation. Once again, this proved that participating in a
conversation is all it took to reduce a driver's focus on the road.
As reported in This
is London, Just concluded:
Drivers need to keep
not only their hands on the wheel, they also have to keep their brains on the
road. Drivers' seats in many vehicles are becoming highly instrumented cockpits
and during difficult driving situations they require the undivided attention of
the driver's brain.
The clear
implication is that engaging in a demanding conversation could jeopardise
judgment and reaction time.So while there may be laws out there that ban the
use of hand-held phones
behind the wheel, the truth is the road will remain a dangerous place as long
as drivers continue to carry phone conversations on hands-free
devices - so be careful out there.
Link: Driving
study deals blow to hands-free phones
Sumber: Yahoo..
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