Hands-free or not \u2013 your chances of crashing your car are the same.<\/p>\n
Insurance company Dial Direct has issued a statement warning drivers that using a hands-free kit in their cars, thinking that it is safer, is a myth.<\/p>\n
This followed an experiment conducted recently\u00a0by the MythBusters<\/em> television series, Dial Direct company head Warwick Scott-Rodger said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have long considered hands-free devices to be better, safer and easier because they allow you to have both hands on the wheel. This experiment places some big question marks behind this well-known \u2018fact\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n In the experiment two groups of 15 drivers each used a high-tech driving simulator at Stanford University Automotive Innovation Facility in the US. Motorists were told to pay attention to GPS instructions and to avoid crashing into any other vehicles or pedestrians.<\/p>\n Members of one group used cellphones while the other group was tested using a hands-free device. Both hand-held and hands-free devices split the drivers\u2019 attention, the experiment found.<\/p>\n Source: News24<\/a><\/p>\n Driving safety test: handheld vs hands free mobile use<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Most common excuses for using mobile devices while driving<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n City of Cape Town to auction off impounded mobile phones<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nOf the drivers using their cellphones, only one passed, five failed by driving the wrong way and nine crashed. Of the hands-free group, one passed, six failed by driving the wrong way and eight crashed.<\/p>\nMore on driving in SA<\/h3>\n