Is a hands-free phone safer than a handheld phone?
BACKGROUND
Although it is becoming more and more accepted that driving while talking on a cell phone can be hazardous, most jurisdictions are making handheld phone use illegal while allowing hands-free phone use.


METHODS
The scientific literature exploring the effects of these two types of cell phone use on driving and driving-related performance is reviewed here.


RESULTS
Our review shows that talking on the phone, regardless of phone type, has negative impacts on performance especially in detecting and identifying events. Performance while using a hands-free phone was rarely found to be better than when using a handheld phone. Some studies found that drivers compensate for the deleterious effects of cell phone use when using a handheld phone but neglect to do so when using a hands-free phone.


CONCLUSIONS
Current research does not support the decision to allow hands-free phone use while driving.
Ishigami
Yoko
Y
Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. ishigami@dal.ca
Klein
Raymond M
RM
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors