AAA FOUNDATION:
 
By J. Peter Kissinger
President and CEO
 
"Look, ma!  No hands!"
 
Remember the daredevil kid who would come flying through the neighborhood on his bike without ever touching the handlebars?   He may have looked cool, but as his worried mother probably told him, "hands free" can be a really dangerous way to ride down the street.
 
It turns out that "hands free" can be a pretty dangerous way for grown-ups driving cars to roll, too.  Data from two new AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety studies shows that cell-phone use -- with or without hands-free devices -- is a highly distracting activity that adds significantly to your chances of getting into a crash.
 
About two-thirds of people surveyed have the mistaken impression that using a hands-free device is somehow safer than talking on a handheld cell phone while driving.  Many state laws even seem to endorse that idea, allowing "hands-free" cell phone use while driving, but making handheld use illegal. 
 
The fact is, trying to hold a conversation while driving --whether hands-fee, handheld, or even with a passenger -- creates a mental distraction that diminishes your ability to drive. When your mind is engaged in the conversation, your attention drifts away from the road.    If you've ever driven someplace only to realize that you have no recollection of having driven there, you've experienced mental distraction.
 
As a result of being distracted, your reaction time slows significantly.  Those split seconds you lose can make the difference between catastrophe avoided and tragedy when a child runs in front of your car, another driver veers into your lane, a car suddenly darts across an intersection or any of the millions of things we all encounter on the road.
 
Since nearly everyone talks to passengers -- and more than half of us use cell phones while driving -- most people assume it's not a big risk.  But you're actually four times more likely to get into a crash while talking on a cell phone -- either hands-free or handheld.
 
With cell phone use growing, this situation has the potential to become an even greater safety risk, especially if people continue to underestimate the dangers of cell-phone use while driving. About 80 percent of people surveyed say that they find cell-phone use an "unacceptable risk," but half of these same people admit to talking on the phone while driving regularly.
 
Talking isn't the only risky activity associated with cell-phone use while driving.  One in seven drivers admits to "texting" -- sending short typed messages -- while driving.  This is an even riskier behavior, since it involves both the mental distractions of talking on cell phones and the physical distraction of typing.  When your brain is trying to compose a message, operate your phone, and type on a tiny keyboard, you just don't have a lot of "mental bandwidth" left to drive safely.
 
Texting is an especially big problem for younger drivers.  Half of all drivers 18-24 report texting while driving.  That's double then percentage of drivers 25-34 who text and 10 times more driving and texting than those 45 and older report. 
 
This trend is especially worrisome when it comes to teen drivers, who already rank as the riskiest drivers on the road.  Last year, an AAA survey showed that about half of all teens report texting while they drive.  With the prices of "smartphones" falling and texting becoming even more popular, putting another distraction in front of these young drivers could spell disaster.
 
Parents should stress to teens -- and even to their 20- and 30-somethings -- that texting while driving, like phoning while driving, is too dangerous for anyone.  While cell phones can great safety tools when you need to call for help on the road, in the history of cell-phone use, no message has ever been sent that's worth risking anyone's life over.
 
And, just remember the old joke about the kid on a bicycle:  "Look, ma!  No hands!" almost always ends with "Look, ma! No teeth!"

For more information on how you can use in-vehicle technologies safely and effectively, visit the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety at www.AAAFoundation.org.