I remember not too long ago when you couldn’t make a call while driving without it being hands-free. Every time a driver would ever pick up their cell phone to make or receive a call they were putting themselves, their passengers, other drivers, and even pedestrians at risk. Even with the improvements in technology, especially when concerning cell phones and vehicle compatibility some risk has been reduced with the hands-free implications that are being made in newer model vehicles. This does not however mean that all risk associated with talking on a cell phone while driving has been eliminated though. Let’s discuss some of the risks that every driver faces when they take or make a call while driving even when they are using hands-free technology.

1. I remember not too long ago when you
couldn’t make a call while driving without it
being hands-free.

2. Every time a driver would ever pick up their
cell phone to make or receive a call they
were putting themselves, their passengers,
other drivers, and even pedestrians at risk.

3. Even with the improvements in technology,
especially when concerning cell phones and
vehicle compatibility some risk has been reduced
with the hands-free implications that are being
made in newer model vehicles.

4. This does not however mean that all risk
associated with talking on a cell phone while
driving has been eliminated though.

5. Let’s discuss some of the risks that every
driver faces when they take or make a call
while driving even when they are using
hands-free technology.

6. One of the risks that has been found to be true by
a study at the University of Utah, which was
funded by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
the education arm of AAA is that when using
speech-enabled technologies drivers were
actually more distracted while driving in the
simulation or a research vehicle than when they
were driving while just talking on a phone.

7. This being said the simple clicking of a
button on your steering wheel to answer an
inbound call is distracting, but can be safer
than just picking up your cell phone.

8. Another risk that is sweeping the nation for
drivers is the speech-to-text enabled
capabilities of newer vehicles.

9. It has been discovered that this feature may
actually overload the driver thus making
their driving more dangerous for themselves
and others.

10. It has been discovered by Dr.Strayer of the
University of Utah that actually talking on
the phone whether it is using a hands-free
device or not can be much more dangerous
than driving drunk.

11. However, the level of mental distraction isn’t
universal with each vehicle or phone.

12. Another study has been done by AAA to
compare the level of mental distraction.

13. From the study the safest vehicles to choose
from door their voice-activated systems is
the Chevy Equinox, Buick Lacrosse, and the
Toyota 4Runner.

14. The most dangerous vehicles or voice-
activated software was found in the Mazda
6, Microsoft Cortana, and the Sonota by
Hyundai.

15. In conclusion while using a hands-free device can
be safer at times if you choose to take or make a
call compared to actually picking up your phone
and taking your eyes off the road there are still
certain risks that drivers should be aware of.

16. Ultimately the only way to eliminate these
risks all together is to simply not talk or text
while driving.