We have been a mobile society for hundreds if not thousands of years. Ever since the invention of the wheel and the discovery of many uses of animals for transport, we have been nomadic; we rarely stay in one place very long. And even in business, we have a want and a need to be out of the office reaching customers and prospects virtually anywhere in the world.  And with planes, trains and automobiles making that easier, the biggest innovation in mobility is the ability to communicate while on the go.

[Image courtesy of FaceMePLS on Flickr via a Creative Commons license]A recent research study in Salt Lake City about hands-free mobile device systems in cars, seems to add to the suggestion that what you see above is still the safest way to use a mobile phone around a vehicle.

In recent years, that communication ability has become more mobile as well, with phones that can fit in pockets and purses, have no wires attached and can send and receive calls wirelessly through the air instead of through a phone line tethered to a wall. Before long, people were able to make contact with loved ones or emergency responders while on the road in the car. However, one of the new consequences of this increased communication freedom was revealed soon after the introduction of the iPhone – that talking or using a mobile device  while driving was a distraction and seemed to be at the root of an increase in car accidents and deaths on the roadways.

So over the last few years, in response to this trend, many companies and car manufacturers have started to develop hands-free solutions, with the belief that the reason for the increase in accidents involving mobile devices was that the devices forced drivers to take a hand off the steering wheel, and that perceived lack of physical control was actually the cause for all the problems. So the idea was not to remove mobile device use from the car (though a few U.S. states have banned the use of mobile devices while driving), but instead to make it easier for the devices to be used without the hands being taken off the wheel.

According to a recent study conducted by the University of Utah and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (yes, an affiliate of AAA), however, it seems that the physical control of the vehicle is not the root cause as was first believed – it may very well be the use of the devices themselves, hands-free or not.

The test involved various voice-activated systems in several vehicles, and the study looked into reaction times and distraction levels of volunteer drivers in Salt Lake City. In a comparison, most of the voice-activated systems actually increased drive distraction over a cell-phone conversation, with only a couple of systems  recorded a distraction level similar to listening to an audiobook (in other words, minimal).

Not all hands-free systems are the same, and the research shows that the key to hands-free driving is having a system that is the most intuitive and easiest to use and access. (This is a note to Chevrolet, which had the most “distracting” system, and to others like Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Chrysler which were also high on the scale).

If you are in the market for a new car, keep this in mind – if your car has a voice-activated system, it would be a good idea to test it while in the lot to make sure  you understand how easy it is to operate and ultimately how distracting it could be. I may not necessarily recommend operating it while on a test drive unless  you feel confident about the system and get the OK from the sales agent. However, my ultimate recommendation based on research and anecdotal evidence is to turn off your mobile device while driving, or if you have to have it on, use it sparingly and always with a hands-free system.