In order to avoid road accidents, for a long time drivers have been advised not to text anyone while driving. But almost no one seemed to follow that advice. As people were not able or not interested to restrain themselves from texting while driving, so to keep their eyes focused on road, hands-free texting using voice-operated technology was legalized. Recently, a study has found that drivers who use voice recognition application to compose their text messages are just as distracted as drivers who choose to manually text while driving.
The research was conducted by Texas A&M Transportation Institute. According to the research result, “using voice-to-text applications to send and receive text messages while driving do not increase driver safety compared to manual texting.”
On the other side some previous years’ reports say the following:
- Police issued 149 citations and 292 warnings for inattentive driving between December 1, 2010, and April 10, 2013 in Appleton.
- In 2011, inattentive driving was listed as a contributing factor in 21,778 of the state’s 112,516 crashes, including 98 deaths.
- The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration reported that 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2011, and an estimated 387,000 were injured.
Maj. Sandra Huxtable, director of the Bureau of Safety said, “Their attention is focused everywhere, except where it should be, which is on the road.”
Texas researchers believe that the driving public assumes that using an app to text is better than using the device in his/her hand. Besides, many drivers admitted that they felt safer using the voice recognition apps while driving.
Source: Texas A&M
Thanks To: Post Crescent, The Seattle Times
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