Is hands-free enough while driving?

Today, we saw a very interesting article in the Washington Post titled “Even hands-free, you shouldn’t talk or text while driving.” If you haven’t read it yet, you should. And let us know what you think.

We have all seen the commercials on TV talking about “hands-free technology” in cars these days. The article discusses a report out of the University of Utah that suggests that using this hands-free technology may not be the metaphoric stake to the heart of distracted driving that advocates had hoped it might be. In fact, it seems to show that it makes it worse because talking to a system and trying to get it to do what you want (write or read a text, look up restaurants, or find a movie theater) divides your brain’s resources, making it harder for your brain to make the split-second decisions that driving so often requires.

We’re not experts on hands-free technology, and we certainly support people and companies who are trying to develop technologies and solutions to eliminate distracted driving, but we do know there is already a pretty simple solution to the problem: just don’t do it. Pay attention to the road 100% of the time you are driving. Nothing is so important that you need to pull your phone out and start texting while you are driving to school or work, and if it is something important, just pull over.  

Again, if you haven’t read the article, you should. Do let us know what you think.