We have heard about dangers from
various forms of distracted driving,
especially texting. A recent study from
researchers in Australia and Spain
concludes sending a text has the same
danger level as being above the legal
alcohol limit. A dozen healthy volunteers
took part in a driving simulation test over
two days while using a cell phone. The
following week the same volunteers took
the test after consuming alcohol. Habitual
drinkers and those who had never
consumed alcohol were excluded. Using a
cell phone or sending a text message was
the same as being above the legal alcohol
limit. Surprisingly, a simple conversation
using a hands free phone also impaired
driving ability, but at a level that would be
below the legal limit of alcohol
consumption. However, if the hands free
topic was more demanding, the driving
ability further declined.