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Wireless Bluetooth headsets seem perfect for use while driving because they are a lot less cumbersome than wired headsets. Though you do tend to have them attached to your head for a long time, their real danger is probably not the risk of cancer or brain damage. Hands-free Bluetooth headsets can encourage your use of cell phones while driving because you wrongly believe it is safe. You should worry more about ending up under a bus, or about your company getting sued when an employee has an accident.

Research Says Don't Talk and Drive

There is much research about the dangers of cell phone use while driving.  Way back in 2002, the UNC Highway Safety Research Center looked at traffic accidents in North Carolina related to cell phone use.  Analyzing police reports, questionnaires and a telephone survey, researchers concluded that cell phone use was involved in about one out of 623 crashes and estimated that 1,475 of the annual crashes in the state were related to cell phone use. The most common cause of accidents was "driver inattention". This research also found that only a small percentage of people used a hands-free headset while driving.

Since then, the use of cell phones in cars has increased, but so has the awareness of its dangers.

Instead We Buy Hands-free Headsets

People are using hands-free devices more and more because they think this is how to talk and drive safely. Now that Bluetooth phones and headsets are now common, you no longer have to deal with all those wires. At the same time, legislatures have encouraged this perception by outlawing handheld cell phone use.

A California law that took effect in 2008 has led to a surge in headset sales. You may have bought a Bluetooth headset yourself, so you can say . . .

Look Ma, No Hands!

You are safer in some ways with a hands-free headset, but not for the reason you think. The most dangerous moments while driving are when you are from reaching for something you have dropped such as a coffee mug, music CD, or cell phone. If you aren't holding your phone you can't drop it.

Why isn't it enough that with Bluetooth headsets, you can now, as the Motorola tag line says, "Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road"? Hands and eyes, hmm . . . , one thing is missing.

Where's Your Head?

In his book, Emotional Design, Donald Norman, a usability and design expert, briefly considered the use of cell phones and driving. Having seen preliminary research which showed no difference in accident rates between handheld cell phone use and hands-free cell phone use, he guessed it was because a phone conversation puts us in an emotional space outside the immediate environment.

You are in two places at once - the physical space you are in and the mental and emotional space in which your conversation is taking place. Though you can perform the mechanics of driving, your "inattention" or, rather, "divided attention" means you are less able to plan, to anticipate the actions of other drivers, and to react to any unexpected conditions. As you get drawn into the conversation, you are less able to reflect on what you are doing, which is operating a two-ton machine.

What are the consequences?

The Insurance Industry Reviews the Data

The Insurance Industry Institute has reviewed the latest research. Seventy-three percent of drivers now report using a cell phone while driving. They found that talking on a cell phone while driving increases your chances of an accident by 1.3 times even when using a hands-free headset. This is about the same as when driving while drunk (at the legal intoxication limit). While this increased risk is much less than when reaching for a falling item, it leads to many more accidents because of the amount of time spent using cell phones while driving.

And Tells You To . . .

Even if you wear a hands-free Bluetooth headset in the car, there's one thing, as countless bumper stickers say, you should still do.

Hang Up and Drive!

You should hang up drive or pull off the road. For businesses, the California Association of Employers recommends requiring employees to pull off the road before conducting business using a cell phone. Exxon and Shell already ban employees' cell phone use of any kind during work hours while driving.  Maybe you should, too.

About the Author

Shambhu Borah reviews prepaid cell phones on his website: http://www.best-prepaid-cell-phone-plans.com, a family guide to prepaid cell phones.

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