The studies have shown us repeatedly that driving while talking on a cell phone (even a hands-free job) is as dangerous as driving when you've had a couple of drinks. And many states and localities are starting to finally get serious about the danger that distracted drivers pose to themselves and everybody else on the road. It's long overdue.But you still don't get it, right? You continue to think it's no big deal to multi-task...even when it involves doing something while hurtling along the highway at 65 MPH in a 3,5oo pound vehicle.
Well, for your sake (and ours), please check out this brief article from ABC News which explains just why the practice of driving while using a cell phone is such foolish and irresponsible behavior. It describes the evidence obtained from "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (one of the most effective of the new tools being used in the field of cognitive science) to prove that "the price we pay for trying to listen intensely comes at the expense of our ability to see clearly."
"When we turn the 'listening knobs' up, says psychologist Steve Yantis of Johns Hopkins University, we turn the 'visual knobs' down. It doesn't make any difference if the phone is hands-free. It's the listening that makes the difference, not the nature of the instrument."
