Think talking on your hands-free is safe? Think again, says Uni of Sussex research

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/uos-tto060616.php

Public Release: 7-Jun-2016
Think talking on your hands-free is safe? Think again, says Uni of Sussex research
Driving while talking on a hands-free phone can be just as distracting as talking on a hand-held mobile phone, psychologists at the University of Sussex have found
University of Sussex

Driving while talking on a hands-free phone can be just as distracting as talking on a hand-held mobile phone, psychologists at the University of Sussex have found.

The study, published in the Transportation Research journal, found that drivers having conversations which sparked their visual imagination detected fewer road hazards than those who didn't. They also focused on a smaller area of the road ahead of them and failed to see hazards, even when they looked directly at them. This shows the risks of even hands-free phone conversations.

The researchers found that conversations may use more of the brain's visual processing resources than previously understood. Having a conversation which requires the driver to use their visual imagination creates competition for the brain's processing capacity, which results in drivers missing road hazards that they might otherwise have spotted.

•••••