Texting and driving is not only unsafe, it’s illegal. That little fact isn’t about to stop our phone-obsessed culture from sending out those ever-so-important “OMG” or LOL emjoi texts. Enter voice-to-text.
The concept itself is brilliant, but couple that with driving and things get to be no bueno. Voice-to-text allow users to speak their message into the phone’s microphone and have it instantly convert into a text message. Most new phones have this capability built into the device itself, otherwise there are plenty of apps to choose from.
Texas A&M University conducted a study and found that voice-to-text is in fact, just as dangerous as texting while driving. Researchers put 43 people in real-life driving conditions on a test track, performing identical maneuvers. Significant delays in reaction time happened in both groups, those texting while driving and the other that was using voice-to-text.
Surprisingly, in some cases drivers using voice-to-text performed worse because they were trying to correct errors in their message dictation. What does all this mean? Well, that should be pretty obvious. Distracted driving, is just that, distracted driving, no matter what you’re doing.
Experts fear the voice-to-text option gives drivers a false sense of safety. The number of crashes involving a driver using a cell phone is on the rise. AAA found that 23% of all traffic collisions in 2011 were caused by a distracted driver using a cell phone.
Think twice before texting a message to your friend. Trust us, it can wait. If you or someone you love has been involved in an accident and you suspect a distracted driver was to blame, give our office a call. H & P has the know-how and experience to get you compensated for your injuries and move one step towards making our communities safer.
