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Hands-free technology in cars hardly danger-free, study finds
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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study found using the voice-controlled system in cars that syncs to smartphones can distract drivers long enough to go not one football field, but three, once they’ve finished using it, reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave.
Jacy Good experienced the danger firsthand. Her college graduation went from a perfect day to a nightmare in seconds, thanks to a distracted driver on a hands-free device.
“He turned left through the red light. And as he did that, the 18-wheeler served to try and miss him, still clipped the front of his car but then slammed full force into our family’s car,” Good said.
Good’s parents were killed instantly. She was given just a 10-percent chance of survival. She beat those odds, but suffered a lasting brain injury.
“I don’t have the brain cells that know how to move my wrists or my fingers or my ankle or my toes,” she said. “I’m lucky I can walk.”