The Portland Press Herald recently published an editorial (Our View, June 26) advocating against the use of hands-free phones in vehicles in Maine.
This is not a realistic position to take simply because it:
• Infringes upon basic rights (conversation).
• Would adversely impact people’s productivity.
• Will not survive against powerful cellphone lobbies.
• Is not based on unanimous research; some researchers have found that use of a cellphone in a vehicle is no more distracting than talking to someone else in the vehicle.
Here is one study that underlines the fourth point above:
In simulation studies, psychologist David Strayer and colleagues at the University of Utah tested people in a simulator doing various distracting things while driving. Against a baseline of just plain driving, which rated a 1.0 in terms of level of distraction, here’s what those tests found:
• Listening to the radio – 1.21.
• Listening to a book on tape – 1.75.
• Talking with a passenger in the front seat – 2.33.
• Talking on a hand-held cellphone – 2.45.
• Talking on a hands-free cellphone – 2.27.
• Interacting with a speech recognition e-mail or text system – 3.06.
Conclusion: Using a hands-free cellphone is less distracting than talking with another person in the car, and using a hand-held cellphone is more distracting, so the logical conclusion of this data would be to legislate against carrying on a conversation with another person in the vehicle if one is to legislate against use of hands-free cellphone use … which is clearly ridiculous!
Rick Kelley
Windham
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