Why Hands Free is Safer then Hand Held Phone (Download)

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Hand Free is Not Safer then Hand Held? Wrong!

Many cell phone users are familiar with news reports and research discussing the safety of a hands Hand cellular phone while driving. These studies, such as the research done by the University of Utah, aim to prove that even Hands Free cellular phones are unsafe for driving. The goal is to characterize driver distraction as being “all in your head”

At Applikompt, we disagree strongly with this conclusion and many Hand Free makers are "parroting" our findings in support of the Hand Free devices they sell.

Carrying out a conversation is not a purely cognitive exercise. We are physical beings and even talking on a cell phone demands physical or physiological responses from the driver. The key is being able to safely carry on a conversation while driving. Our research is conducted on the road by observing real drivers making cellular phone calls or other dangerous activities, e.g. Texting or reading e-mail.

The problem with Hand held devices begin with the very nature of the product- Hand held devices require the driver to move in order use them. Additionally, they require the driver to maintain an uncomfortable position or move to support their arms using the parts of the car, whether it is leaning on the window or an armrest. This movement changes the driver’s viewing ability on the road by:

o Increasing the side/rear blind spot from the cell phone side

o Nullifying adjustments made to the rear and side view mirrors, thus increasing driver disconnect from the traffic.

o Changes the forward looking perspective of the driver and creates a front blind spot (of particular importance in city traffic where a pedestrian can be blocked by "A" pillar.

The other effect of holding the phone in one hand while attempting to steer with the other hand is that it creates a conflict in the "Motor feed back" of both arms, resulting in:

o Poor communication with other drivers (no turn signals)

o No activation of essential equipment in a timely manner (horn, lights, windshield wipers)

o No steering control (Hands Free Steering). This happens as Hand Held cell phone users find it necessary to respond to their driving environment, respond to a physical need or even taking a puff from cigarette.

Please see sample photos of real world traffic in support of above conclusions.

Another observation we feel compared share is what we term, "Hand Held Confusion". In this phenomenon, drivers hold the phone in one hand but they use it on the ear at the opposite side of their bodies, thus increasing the complexity of the Motor and cognitive skills required.

Cognitive distraction is real, but not for the first few minutes after the call is already in progress. Additionally, this distraction is different and unique to each individual event, caller, conversation in addition to the DrivingSystem™ variables of Man, Machine, Environment, History and Regulation.

What we experience in every activity we take part in is what we term as a CognoMotor™ activity, and our success or failure in this activity is a relative result that depends on how developed our Cognitive skills and Motor skills in the activity we are performing.

While our observations may not carry weight by some, the following CNN article by Madison park that was aired in July 2009 and showed that holding the cell phone for an extended period of time causes stress and damage to "The ulnar nerve, which travels through the forearm and branches into the hand".

This proves our point about Hand Held effect on driver comfort while driving. The article includes comments by Dr. Leon Benson, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and Dr. Peter J. Evans, the director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

The above have proved the value of Hand Free over Hand Held. This by no way means that Hands Free is the solution to Driver Distraction. Also, this does not mean that Hands Free devices or solutions are created equal. We will cover that in a separate article in the near future.

Since Hand Free is not the full solution, many universities are following in our footsteps in creating and researching an integrated driving system such as ours to synchronize the entire driving experience. UMTRI along with the NHTSA are working on IVBSS and NHTSA previously completed a project SAVE-IT with Delphi in the early part of the decade but still none of these solutions.

European institutions are also working on similar projects. Like their American counterparts, they recently began to follow In our footsteps and create an integrated driving system instead of segregating the problems into individual phenomenon, e.g., sleepiness, speeding, distraction, etc. Example programs would be the PReVENT project. Links are available on this website to many of these academic and Governmental programs.

In our footsteps is a phrase that deserves explanation. Our first in vehicle personal PC was in 1985, before the term “telematics” was invented by our German colleagues. We are not talking about a “pie in the sky” article, nor are we discussing science-fiction. We have worked on this project using at least two different brands of PCs with the full aim of avoiding driver distraction while maintaining the usability of telematic devices. Our research also aims to create a system to provide smart assistance to the driver and use "text-to-speech" technology. Other inventions are today's big buzz, e.g. blind spot detection, tire pressure monitoring, pay at the pump and so on.

Luckily we still have the check sheets, NDAs and the software and hardware that we used at the time and since then in preparing and waiting for the market to respond to our forward vision. In the meantime we absorbed the additional experience from using and testing our theories on the roads and around the world daily.

Our solution, STMCGateway, is simple, effective, reliable, and scalable. It was not developed in dark rooms playing with video games, nor was it created by a committee. It was a vision that was nurtured and discussed with our focus group and confirmed over two decades and benefited from our exposure to various disciplines and international travel.

To know more, call Mr. Naboulsi directly on 001 248/388-0211 or e-mail him on manaboulsi AT actplace DOT net.

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