Distracted driving refers to any activity that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary objective of driving. There is a lack of enough evidence that ties handheld cell phone use and texting to promoting car crashes. However, some studies have successfully identified an increase in distraction in drivers who were driving while operating their cell phones. In these studies cellphone use while driving was deemed to increase the risk of causing car crashes. Due to the associated risk of cellphone use to increasing crushes, car manufacturers install infotainment systems in today’s cars. Infotainment systems allow drivers to engage with their phone i. e talk and text, through an inbuilt voice recognition software. Therefore, due to the small risks of using cellphones while driving and the advantages of infotainment systems, shouldn’t drivers use the hands-free cell phone feature while driving.
There are several reasons why drivers should be able to use the hands-free cell phone feature while driving. Among these reasons is hands-free cell phone use reduces the chances of crashing as it merely contributes as a distraction element when driving. Advancement in automation and computing allows drivers to place calls and send texts on a car’s infotainment system through voice commands. According to an experimental study by Ranney et al. (2005), hands-free cell phone use allowed drivers be able to focus more on the road than on their phones. Contrary to Ranney’s study, Strayer et al. (2003) state that cellphone conversations reduce a driver's visual processing and attention on the road; thus, cellphone conversations cognitively distract a driver. Despite the evidence mentioned above on cognitive distraction, drivers should be allowed to use hands-free systems as they merely contribute to crushes.
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Another reason for supporting hands-free cell phone use is the ineffectiveness of policies that ban cell phone use while driving. In response to the correlation between cell phone use and the increase in crashes, authorities in the country came up with guidelines and restrictions to limit cell phone use while driving. Almost all States have in place some form of ban on the use of cell phones while driving. This is in regards to an IIHS finding which identified that all-driver bans on handheld phone conversations could have a significant and lasting effect on phone use. Despite the IIHS finding, Foss et al. (2009) and Goodwin et al. (2012) identify that bans set to explicitly target young drivers seem to have a more negligible effect on their cellphone use while driving.
Additionally, an analysis by HLDI (2013) established that bans might not reduce crashes even when they are vigorously enforced. The HLDI analysis explains that there was no corresponding reduction in crashes reported to insurers from counties with or without high visibility enforcement bans on phone use while driving. Therefore, the ineffectiveness of cell phone bans when driving promotes the opinion that hands-free cell phone use should be accepted as a better alternative to the various bans established to bar drivers from using cell phones while driving.
References
Foss, R. D., Goodwin, A. H., McCartt, A. T., & Hellinga, L. A. (2009). Short-term effects of a teenage driver cell phone restriction. Accident Analysis & Prevention (AAP) .
Goodwin, A. H., O’Brien, N. P., & Foss, R. D. (2012). Effect of North Carolina's restriction on teenage driver cell phone use two years after implementation. Accident Analysis & Prevention , PP 363-367.
Ranney, T. A., Harbluk, J. L., & Noy, Y. I. (2005). Effects of voice technology on test track driving performance: implications for driver distraction. Hum Factors .
Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., & Johnston, W. A. (2003). Cell phone-induced failures of visual attention during simulated driving. J Exp Psychol Appl .
