3 On Your Side: New Study On Hands-Free Devices In Cars
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Many cars made today have hands free technology designed to allow drivers to keep their attention on the road. But 3 On Your Side consumer reporter Jim Donovan tells us about a new study finds hands free devices may be more dangerous than first thought.
Jacy Good's college graduation went from a perfect day to a nightmare in seconds thanks to a distracted driver on a hands free device.
"He turned left through the red light. And as he did that the 18-wheeler tried to swerve to try and miss him. Still clipped the front of his car but then slammed full force into our family's car," said Good.
Jacy's parents were killed instantly. She was given just a 10 percent chance of survival. She beat those odds but suffered a lasting brain injury.
She now advocates against distracted driving which killed more than 3,100 people and injured an estimated 424,000 thousand in 2013 alone.
A new study finds even new handsfree systems, that work with voice commands, leave drivers with a technology hangover.
"You have to kind of get out of that distracted zone and to much more of an alert drive, but that takes time, it takes up to 27 seconds," said Professor David Strayer with University of Utah.
When more than 250 adult drivers were evaluated, lingering distraction was found across the board.
"If you are now all of a sudden talking to your phone, you are now focusing on one task to the exclusion of tending to the driving environment," said Strayer.
The bottom line? Researchers say just because the technology is in your car to do things like voice to tweet, it doesn't mean you should do it when you're driving.
