Hands-free chat while driving just as dangerous: study

Hands-free wireless devices are rarely safer than their hand-held counterparts when it comes to driving and talking on the phone at the same time, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax found that talking on a cellphone, even using a handsfree device such as a headset or Bluetooth technology, negatively affects driving performance — especially in detecting and identifying events on the road.

The study, which reviewed more than two dozen scientific papers that looked at the effects of both types of cellphone use on driving, found that some drivers alter their driving style — particularly speed — when using a handheld device.

Drivers who use handsfree devices, however, did not.

"When you are talking on a hands-free phone you tend not to slow down," said Yoko Ishigami, a Killam scholar in Dalhousie's experimental psychology department and the study's lead author.

More speed, she said, means more mistakes and more accidents.

"When people drive with a hands-free phone they tend not to compensate because they actually think it's safer, said Dalhousie researcher Raymond Klein.

Both said the research shows why any cellphone use in a vehicle should be banned, handsfree or not.

"We actually drive with our minds … and if our minds are busy, then we might make mistakes in driving," Klein said.

About 50 countries — from Australia to Zimbabwe — restrict the use of cellphones while driving. Some of the bans date back as far as 1998.

Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec have all banned hand-held cellphones for drivers, while still allowing people to use the hands-free devices. Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and P.E.I. are considering similar moves.

Newfoundland discourages it strongly

Transport Canada also recommends that people shouldn't use any cellphone while driving.

Newfoundland's Government Services Minister Kevin O'Brien said the government, which enacted its ban six years ago, knows hands-free cellphone use while driving is dangerous.

"We discourage it, and strongly discourage it," O'Brien told CBC News.

He said the government didn't make include hands-free use in its ban, because it would be too difficult to prosecute people accused of violating the law.

Michael Joliffe is just one of many Canadians who used their hands-free device while driving, particularly as he traveled to and from work.

"That 150 kilometres a day I would drive, it was a great time to talk on the phone."

He said he stopped doing it, however, when one day he drove from Oakville to Richmond Hill, talking on his phone all the way, and couldn't remember how he got home.

His employers have taken a similar cue and banned employees from using all wireless devices while driving — a move that Joliffe said could save lives.

Research conducted by the Ontario Medical Association has found that cellphone use puts drivers at significantly greater risk of collision, regardless of whether they use a hands-free or hand-held phone.

The findings showed that cellphone driving can pose nearly the same risks as driving while at the legal limit for alcohol.