Safety Zone

Common sense tells us that it must be safer to have two hands on the wheel instead of one on the wheel and one holding the phone. When we were learning to drive, didn't the DMV booklet instruct us to have two hands on the wheel? Still, recent studies suggest it's just as safe to hold the phone as it is to use a hands free device. They say that the real distraction is the conversation itself, not what your hands are doing. So what is the reality here?

This is a huge topic that is hotly debated; here are some facts, observations and thoughts:-

• Many jurisdictions do not require the police at an accident to note whether the driver was on a cellphone. This means that the real number of crashes where a hand-held cellphone was involved is most probably a lot higher than the reported number.
• To give you sense of the magnitude of the problem, during a 9 month period in 2001, the California Highway Patrol attributed at least 4,699 crashes, 2,786 injuries, and 31 deaths to cell phones.
• There is some debate on whether using a hands free device is more safe than holding the phone in your hand. Some studies suggest that the phone conversation itself is the real distraction that it produces a kind of tunnel vision where the driver takes in much less than what they see. Those that say a hands free device is safer will say that having both hands on the wheel increases your ability to take evasive action from other drivers.
• Of course, this is a moot point if you have a manual "stick shift" gearbox; two hands simply cannot control the steering wheel, the gear stick and your phone at the same time!
• It would seem to us that it is better to have two hands on the wheel than one and the discussion should be about degrees of safety, not whether something is safe or not. Legislation seems to make sense: some improvement in safety is surely better than none.
• Some will claim that talking on a cell phone while driving is no more dangerous than doing other activities such as eating, drinking, and applying make-up while driving. We don't disagree, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't adopt good sense and legislation for cell phone use.

Feedback always welcome at - andrew@behandsfree.com

For more detailed information on the topic please look at these resources.

Advocates for Cell Phone Safety
The Partnership for Safe Driving
Canada Safety Council
An Investigation of the Safety Implications of Wireless Communications in Vehicles
NSC Issue


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