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All you have to do is google "hands free cell phone just as dangerous" to see the wealth of articles on the subject. The research has been in for 15 years on the subject (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199702133360701#t=article), hands-free or handheld, the problem is the conversation on the cell phone.

The reason why a phone conversation is more dangerous is because of "cognitive distraction" (http://articles.mcall.com/2012-02-23/news/mc-cellphone-driving-passenger-talk-20120223_1_hands-free-distraction-cellphone-chatter); your brain visualizes the other end of the conversation and that takes away from your ability to concentrate on the road. In-person conversations do not have this effect, and there is also evidence that in-car conversations change with changes in traffic - the person in the car with you subconsciously notices that you are concentrating harder and the conversation subsides.

As for how you enforce it, you probably wouldn't be able to pull someone over for this; as you said, how could you tell? But if you get pulled over for whatever reason you could be cited if you're having a phone conversation.

by MLD on Jul 5, 2012 5:14 pm • link • report