A large number of people using hands- free phone while driving assume it is safe. However, the notion has now been challenged by a new research at the University of Utah.

The study shows 97.5 per cent of people are distracted even as they talk on hands-free while driving. Researchers noted that drivers talking on hands-free take much longer to hit breaks and often fail to keep pace with the moving traffic. The study also found that phone conversations while driving reduce memory performance by 11 per cent while the ability to do math comes down by 3 per cent.

Using a driving simulator, scientists found that only 2.5 per cent of people have the mental ability to concentrate on the road even as they chat over the phone. Researchers have named this group the ’supertaskers’.

Although nearly all of us would like to think of ourselves as supertaskers, this is not the case evidently, pointed out Jason Watson of the research team. He said even their team was surprised to find that only a few people could multitask and chat over the phone while driving, especially because a significant majority of people routinely engaged in such conversations.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Ellen Booth, Campaigns Officer for road safety charity Brake, said it is about time the government made a law banning hands-free phone while driving. She also said the study had quite clearly established that the use of hands-free phone is dangerous while driving as one’s attention is more on the conversation rather than on the road. She added that just because one’s hands are free driving does not become safer since half the driver’s attention is held up by the caller and one may not be able to see something that comes up on to the road unexpectedly.

Emphasising that driving needs full attention Booth urged drivers to pull over at the road’s side if they urgently have to receive a call or read texts.

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