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How risk-free is hands-free texting while driving?

On Behalf of | Dec 15, 2020 | Personal Injury |

As you likely already know, Kentucky law makes it illegal for you to use a personal communication device to read, write, or send a text message while driving a vehicle. If you, like most people, are addicted to texting, however, you may unwisely choose to get around this prohibition by using hands-free technology to text or talk on your cellphone while behind the wheel.

Western Slope Driving Institute cautions that engaging in such behavior puts you, your passengers and all other drivers and passengers around you at high risk for accident and injury. Why? Because texting while driving, even hands-free, represents a leading type of distracted driving, which, in turn, represents the number one cause of accidents.

The multitasking myth

The prevalent theory says that you can multitask. Some self-styled experts even cite multitasking as the only way you and others can expect to keep up with everything you need to do at work and at home.

Unfortunately, however, multitasking is a myth – and a very dangerous one. Studies show that your brain simply cannot do two things at once. True, it can switch back and forth between tasks quickly, but it cannot perform them at the same time. Or, as one researcher phrased it, “People who multitask all the time can’t filter out irrelevancy. … They’re constantly distracted.”

Multitasking results

When you text or talk on your cellphone while driving, even though using hands-free technology, your hands may be on the wheel and your eyes may be on the road, but your mind cannot fully process the things going on around you or the hazards that may exist in front of you. Consequently, you leave yourself at risk for missing danger until you have no time to avoid it.