USING a handsfree mobile phone while driving is just as dangerous as using a handheld mobile, Warwickshire road safety chiefs warn.
Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership is asking the public to think about whether they really need to use a handsfree mobile phone while driving after national research found that handsfree phone use is just as distracting and dangerous as handheld phone use while driving.
Research by The Open University and Roads Policing Academic Network, funded by the Road Safety Trust, has found that a driver using a handheld or a handsfree phone is four times more likely to be involved in a collision than an undistracted driver, can look at hazards but fail to actually see them, can take up to a second longer to react to hazards, and is far less likely to notice hazards even if they happen right in front of them.
Removing the need to hold or look at your phone does not reduce the mental demand on the brain, the research found. Phone use causes mental distraction and when people are distracted they make errors.
Sergeant Chris McSharry said “Although handsfree mobile phone use while driving is legal, officers will not be promoting it as a safe alternative during the National Police Chief’s Council mobile phone operation between February 19 and March 10. Instead we will be using opportunities to help educate drivers that even handsfree mobile phone use while driving is distracting and dangerous.”
