Dangers of using hands-free devices while driving
AutomotiveArticleOctober 10, 2025
When distracted driving related to devices is discussed, it’s often with an eye on handheld phone use — drivers who have accidents while texting or holding their phones during calls. That has also largely been the accident risk addressed in legislation. As of this writing, 31 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories prohibit drivers from using handheld cellphones for any use. 49 states, D.C. and three U.S. territories have bans on texting while driving.1
So far, no states have bans on hands-free use of cellphones or other devices while driving, though many states do have total bans on cellphone use for drivers under certain ages or those with permits or intermediate licenses.2
The heavy focus of safety efforts on handheld phone use and texting might seem appropriate, as those actions clearly result in drivers not having both hands on the wheel or — when dialing or texting — their eyes on the road. However, research shows the cognitive distraction of driving while speaking on a phone (regardless of handheld or hands-free use) or using voice-activated controls or virtual “personal assistants” like Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant causes serious, life-threatening dangers.
It can be difficult to impossible to determine when distracted driving was the precise reason for a fatality (injuries, thanks to questions asked by police at the scene of an accident, are a little easier to track), but statistics show it is having a deadly impact.
Around 3,000 people die in crashes involving distracted driving each year.3 An estimated 324,819 injuries from motor vehicle accidents involved distracted drivers in 2023 (the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures as of this writing).4 Troubling data surrounding distracted driving is nothing new, but the allure of our ever-present devices is so strong that in a 2024 poll, 47% of drivers admitted to sending or reading a text message while driving.5
While distracted driving connected to handheld device use is still widespread, there has certainly been a lot of good work done to communicate the dangers of distraction. However, what has been extremely under-shared is research that shows using hands-free devices does not equate to significantly safer driving.
You might be “half-blind” on the road
Back in 2012, the National Safety Council (NSC) published a report with findings culled from a range of respected researchers that should alarm anyone still using hands-free devices while driving. These findings include:
- Drivers using hands-free and handheld cellphones fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment. This is known as “inattention blindness” and causes drivers to miss exits and run through red lights and stop signs.6
- Drivers using cellphones (again, handheld or hands-free) had slower reaction times than drivers impaired by alcohol at a .08 blood alcohol concentration, the legal intoxication limit in most states.6
- Listening to the other person during a cellphone conversation decreased activity in an area of the brain associated with driving by 37 percent.6
Considering “inattention blindness” more deeply, imagine some of the information that might fall out of the 50 percent of information your brain is processing: a change in speed limit, an accident on the side of an icy road or a child darting out unexpectedly into the path of your vehicle.
In 2020, the NSC reinforced its message in even stronger words in a report advocating for the ban of cellphone and interactive technology use by drivers. “Hands-free devices and voice command systems are not safer,” the report declared, explaining these systems, like their handheld counterparts, “create a cognitive distraction as the driver mentally engages with interactive tasks.”7
Multitasking is a myth, and a dangerous one when driving
Drivers, and sometimes the companies they work for, may see the use of a phone while driving as part of vital multitasking. However, that same NSC report from 2020 dismisses the very notion of multitasking: “The human brain is not capable of multitasking or doing two things at once. Instead, the brain is constantly attention-switching between the two tasks, never giving full focus to either one.”7
A 2010 study by French neuroscientists supports the NSC statement, showing not only that the human brain wasn’t designed to multitask, but that multitasking can actually have harmful effects on brain function.8
Why passengers don’t pose the same distraction
You might ask, “Isn’t talking with someone else in the car just as dangerous as talking on the phone?” The short answer seems to be “no.” While chatting with a passenger can certainly pose a distraction risk, psychologists at the University of Sussex in England published a study in 2016 indicating it’s less risky than cellphone conversations because passengers tend to moderate the discussion when road hazards become apparent and they share non-verbal cues that create a less cognitively demanding conversation.9
Without these visual cues, the conversation requires more attentiveness on the part of the driver. When you’re talking to someone you can’t see, you imagine them visually. The University of Sussex study showed drivers immersed in conversations that triggered their visual imagination detected fewer road hazards than those who were not. They actually failed to see certain hazards directly in front of them and focused on a smaller area of the road ahead than drivers not involved in such conversations.9 Listening to music or a radio program can also present distraction risks, but research indicates those activities are not as mentally demanding as a two-way conversation.10
Raising awareness of hands-free device risks can save lives
The good news is that thanks largely to ever-improving safety measures in car manufacturing and modern safety-assistance technology, the rate of crash deaths per capita in the U.S. is actually 41% lower than it was 50 years ago.11 But distracted driving deaths and injuries are largely preventable, making them all the more tragic.
The research on hands-free device use should inspire us all to think more broadly about driving distractions. People are more tied to their mobile technology than ever before and there are no indications that will change anytime soon.
Legislators and voters need to be aware of all the risks when these laws are considered. Employers need to examine what they ask drivers to do beyond safely operating their vehicles. And all of us, whether driving for personal or professional reasons, need to realize that hands-free technology is not the solution to our growing distracted driving problem.
Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS) offers distracted driver solutions and driver safety trainings. Find out about these and ZRS’ other Casualty Risk Management Services.
Resources
1. National Conference of State Legislatures. “Distracted Driving | Cellphone Use.” 14 May 2025.
2. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)/ Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). “Electronic device laws.” October 2025.
3. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Distracted Driving.” 16 May 2024.
4. U.S. Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Distracted Driving in 2023.” Traffic Safety Facts: Research Note. April 2025.
5. The Zebra. “Texting and Driving Statistics.” 26 March 2024.
6. National Safety Council. “Understanding the distracted brain: Why driving while using hands-free cell phones is risky behavior.” April 2012.
7. National Safety Council. “Understanding driver distraction: How banning use of cell phones and interactive in-vehicle technology while driving can save lives.” 2020.
8. Lapowsky, Issie. “Don't Multitask: Your Brain Will Thank You.” Inc. 8 April 2013.
9. Briggs, Gemma F., Graham J. Hole and Michael F. Land. “Imagery-inducing distraction leads to cognitive tunneling and deteriorated driving performance.” University of Sussex. 2016.
10. National Safety Council. “Mental Distraction Myth Busters.” 2017.
11. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)/ Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). “Fatality Facts 2023: Yearly snapshot.” July 2025.