Is Voice-to-Text Safer While Driving? Texas Experts Say Think Again

We've heard it all before, in fact, many of us have probably done it once or twice. Voice-to-text, or hands-free, mode on your cell phone has made it easier to keep an eye on the road while still sending texts, so it's safe, right?

It turns out that some experts in Texas are saying that's not quite the truth. You see, just because you remove the physical aspect of texting while behind the wheel doesn't mean you aren't distracted while driving.

Voice-to-Text Research in Texas

According to research conducted at Texas A&M, hands-free mode isn't really any better. An experiment was conducted where researchers had 43 participants drive around a test track (cue Mario Kart theme).

They had the 43 participants drive around the track as normal without the use of any phones or handheld devices, just like the good little citizen that cops prefer you to be. Then, they had the drivers do the same thing, but this time they had half texting on their phone while the other half were using voice-to-text features.

Results of the Study

What they found was... disappointing. It turns out that there was no recorded difference between the results from either of the two forms of distracted driving. This means that they didn't find any proof that voice-to-text is safer than traditional driving.

One factor as to why there wasn't a difference in results is believed to be the time it took voice-to-texters to correct mistakes that the phone made. So, by the time they sent a message without using their hands, they took just as many seconds and were distracted for just as long as if they were to send a traditional text.

Too Long Didn't Read...

The meat and potatoes of this study proved that, just because your eyes may be on the road longer for voice-to-text, it really comes down to response times and a shift of focus. When you are distracted doing something else while driving, you will always be at a greater risk of injuring yourself or others.

After all, out of all 50 states, Texas came in 8th for the highest number of distracted drivers on the road.