from University of Utah
The definition of distracted driving often includes using a smartphone while driving. Turns out distracted driving, even when stopped at a red light, has a residual effect that lasts for as long as twenty-seven seconds after ending a call, even with hands-free devices. University of Utah researchers made the discovery in studies for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. One of the studies showed using a vehicle’s infotainment voice commands to dial phone numbers, call contacts or send texts was, in some vehicle models, highly distracting even after issuing the voice commands. But most surprising, the researchers say, was that a driver traveling only twenty-five miles an hour took nearly a half a minute to regain full attention after disconnecting from a voice-command system.