--Original published at Maddy Vingom's PSY105 Blog
In this clip from MythBusters Adam and Jamie are testing their driving abilities while using hands-free devices, to discover whether or not it results in safer driving. I hypothesize that hands-free devices are equally as dangerous as using a cellphone while driving, because they are still considered a distraction. The episode opens with the two men discussing the subject of distracted driving. To begin their research they discussed their methods, Adam and Jamie will both drive through a course two times. Adam will run the course once while holding the phone and once using a hands-free device, and Jamie will complete the task in the opposite order. They scored their driving in both situations based on the same 100-point scale. Each of the tests produced very similar results, however their test contained a few flaws. First the course they drove though did not simulate actually driving on roads with other drivers, needing to read signs, and focusing on directions. In addition, they need more than two participants who are non biased to complete the course, in order to have multiple comparisons that are impartial. They then refined and completed another trial using Sanford University’s driving simulation with 15 outside participants. They determined through the second study that there was no statistical difference between hands-free devices and talking on the cell phone. Meaning that, according to this study, both options for driving while talking on the phone are equally dangerous.
