Hands-Free Technology in Cars May Be More Distracting to Drivers Than Cell Phone Use

We are just desperate to multi-task, despite all of the research demonstrating how bad we are at it.

We especially love our mobile phone texts. So when the development of hands free technology, with special emphasis on features translating text to voice was introduced there was great excitement: consumers get to stay connected in an ostensibly safer mode and auto makers get to sell pricey, profitable add-ons.

There are currently 9 million cars on US roads with the advanced technology. But within five years that number is expected to quintuple to approximately 62 million. All of which sounded pretty awesome for connectivity. Except that the American Automobile Association (AAA) has released a study demonstrating that hands free devices are not only not safer - they may even be less safe than mobile phone use in cars.

The auto companies and responsible technology firms have responded by doing what the aggrieved always do in situations where the basic findings look ominous, they attack the research methodology contrary to their interests. But a number of studies appear to have confirmed the AAA thesis. Even the best news for the auto-tech alliance is merely that hands free might not be quite as bad as mobile auto usage, now acknowledged to be so dangerous that it is outlawed in many US states.

The problem is that text to voice requires greater driver concentration than does the already defamed mobile use. In addition, hands free appears to give some drivers a greater sense of confidence which renders them even more dangerous to themselves and others than they already were. In short, there is probably no stopping the convergence of mobile and mobility. But humanity will increasingly be shed of any illusions that there is a way of indulging this obsession safely. JL

Joan Lowy reports in the Associated Press via Newsday:

Dashboard technology that lets drivers text and email with voice commands -- marketed as a safer alternative to equivalent hand-held devices -- actually is more distracting than simply talking on a cellphone, a new AAA study found.
Automakers have been trying to excite new-car buyers with dashboard infotainment systems that let drivers use voice commands for such tasks as turning on windshield wipers, posting Facebook messages or ordering pizza. The pitch has been that hands-free devices are safer because they let drivers keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
But talking on a hands-free phone isn't significantly safer for drivers than talking on a hand-held phone, and using hands-free devices that translate speech into text is the most distracting of all, University of Utah researchers reported in the auto association study released yesterday.
Speech-to-text systems that enable drivers to send, scroll through, or delete email and text messages required greater concentration by drivers than other potentially distracting activities examined in the study, such as talking on the phone, talking to a passenger, listening to a book on tape or listening to the radio.
The greater the concentration required to perform a task, the more likely a driver is to develop what researchers call "tunnel vision" or "inattention blindness."
Drivers stop scanning the roadway or ignore the side and rearview mirrors. Instead, they look straight ahead, but fail to see what's in front of them, like red lights and pedestrians.
"People aren't seeing what they need to see to drive. That's the scariest part to me," said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the group's safety research arm. "Police accident investigative reports are filled with comments like the 'looked, but did not see.' That's what drivers tell them. We used to think they were lying, but now we know that's actually true."
There are about 9 million cars and trucks on the road with infotainment systems, and that will jump to about 62 million vehicles by 2018, AAA spokeswoman Yolanda Cade said, citing industry research.
The National Safety Council, responding to the study, called on industry and policymakers "to reconsider the inclusion of communications and entertainment technology built into vehicles which allow, or even encourage, the driver to engage in these activities at the expense of focusing on driving."
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers challenged the findings. "We are extremely concerned that it could send a misleading message, since it suggests that hand-held and hands-free devices are equally risky," the group said in a statement.
Other studies have also compared hand-held and hands-free phone use, finding they are equally risky or nearly so. But a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found hand-held phone use was less safe than hands-free.