'Multi-tasking' is one of the top ten buzz words of the last four decades. It's nice to be able to call your spouse on the way back to the house to see if you have to stop for dinner, dessert, or, on a bad day, plumbing supplies instead of having to get all the way back home, just to turn around and go back out again. Cars and trucks have been fitted with phone holders and jacks to for phones so that people can talk hands-free while driving. Multi-tasking means getting things done, and why not communicate a little while in motion?
According to results published by some of the biggest names in the auto insurance industry, these hands-free headsets might not be as safe as you think.
Legally, there's nothing wrong with driving while wearing a headset or talking on speakerphone. You still have two hands on the wheel but, surprise surprise, the hands you have holding the steering apparatus might not have a single thing to do with how well you drive. Research on communication and multi-tasking has shown that we just don't concentrate as well when we do two or more things at once, even if it's something we're really good at doing or do regularly, day in and day out.
Different studies have been done to test the relative effectiveness of multi-tasking, the most prominent of which were done on various groups of students in a classroom environment. The studies showed that it didn't matter what task you were talking about, or how much experience they had, the students performed noticeably better when they were able to give it their undivided attention.
Undivided attention. Complete focus. These studies, which are popping up on the databases of auto insurance companies all across the country, prove what our parents were trying to tell us all along. The only way to safely drive is to have your eyes, ears, hands, feet and everything in between concentrating on the job at the exact same time.
Auto usa insurance Companies are Encouraging Everyone to Hang Up and Drive. But, If You Can't, Here are Some Tips to Make Driving with a Hands-Free Headset Just a Little Bit Safer
Properly used, a phone in the car should be just like a passenger. Conversations are okay, as long as you avoid discussing anything (happy or sad) that can trigger an emotional reaction that would, in turn, demand your complete attention. Attention that should be focused on the road in front of you.
The Best Phone Conversation is No Phone Conversation
Hopefully, though, your passengers can see when you're getting angry enough or sad enough to crash the car, or laughing too hard to see straight. Your phone buddy doesn't. You know what else he can't see? When you have to stop talking long enough to check for pedestrians at an intersection, or focus on the traffic in front of you because rush hour is starting to get sticky. And he can't help you keep a weather eye out the way a real, live passenger can when they're sitting in the passenger seat.
Here's an exercise for you. If you like to talk and drive, try really focusing on the drive and see how often you lose track of your conversation. Then imagine the reverse. How much are you missing on the road while you're chatting away on the phone?
Any way you slice it, by dividing your attention decreases your reaction time, which is not a great idea when driving. Listen to your auto insurance. They know what they're talking about. Hang up and drive.
According to results published by some of the biggest names in the auto insurance industry, these hands-free headsets might not be as safe as you think.
Legally, there's nothing wrong with driving while wearing a headset or talking on speakerphone. You still have two hands on the wheel but, surprise surprise, the hands you have holding the steering apparatus might not have a single thing to do with how well you drive. Research on communication and multi-tasking has shown that we just don't concentrate as well when we do two or more things at once, even if it's something we're really good at doing or do regularly, day in and day out.
Different studies have been done to test the relative effectiveness of multi-tasking, the most prominent of which were done on various groups of students in a classroom environment. The studies showed that it didn't matter what task you were talking about, or how much experience they had, the students performed noticeably better when they were able to give it their undivided attention.
Undivided attention. Complete focus. These studies, which are popping up on the databases of auto insurance companies all across the country, prove what our parents were trying to tell us all along. The only way to safely drive is to have your eyes, ears, hands, feet and everything in between concentrating on the job at the exact same time.
Auto usa insurance Companies are Encouraging Everyone to Hang Up and Drive. But, If You Can't, Here are Some Tips to Make Driving with a Hands-Free Headset Just a Little Bit Safer
Properly used, a phone in the car should be just like a passenger. Conversations are okay, as long as you avoid discussing anything (happy or sad) that can trigger an emotional reaction that would, in turn, demand your complete attention. Attention that should be focused on the road in front of you.
The Best Phone Conversation is No Phone Conversation
Hopefully, though, your passengers can see when you're getting angry enough or sad enough to crash the car, or laughing too hard to see straight. Your phone buddy doesn't. You know what else he can't see? When you have to stop talking long enough to check for pedestrians at an intersection, or focus on the traffic in front of you because rush hour is starting to get sticky. And he can't help you keep a weather eye out the way a real, live passenger can when they're sitting in the passenger seat.
Here's an exercise for you. If you like to talk and drive, try really focusing on the drive and see how often you lose track of your conversation. Then imagine the reverse. How much are you missing on the road while you're chatting away on the phone?
Any way you slice it, by dividing your attention decreases your reaction time, which is not a great idea when driving. Listen to your auto insurance. They know what they're talking about. Hang up and drive.