Statistics are notoriously tricky so I will say two things:

1. Just because states have bans on using cell phones doesn't mean people adhere to them (like speeding laws).
2. There seems to be evidence that texting and driving is extremely detrimental to your ability to drive. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has a campaign called "distracted driving" that you may be interested in looking at.

I just don't drive and use my BB. I put it away because I don't need to email when I am driving a 2 ton machine.

It doesn't matter whether one is using hands-free or not. It's the distraction of listening to a dis-embodied voice that's the problem. Ultimately, some people can multi-task, some can't. Those who can't shouldn't talk on the phone when they drive.

I understand the premise of the question, but I do think that a bluetooth device, if you set it up beforehand, can be dramatically safer then attempting to hold a cellphone with one hand and drive with the other. If you're screwing around with the connection or with other things, then yes, it's just as bad as texting or reading emails.

What I don't think is any safer are these apps that read your texts to you out loud. If you get a text, you simply shouldn't be checking it when you're driving...it's that simple. At the very least, if you feel like you have to check it, do it while stopped at a stop sign or in a long line of cars for a stoplight. But of course, always obey whatever laws are enforced where you are.

even with bluetooth be it in car speaker or ear piece, my focus while driving drops. I've missed a few turns before while talking on the phone while drive and thats with an ear piece... Most people would be quick to say NO just because they love there phones so much and dont want to be told not to use it while driving. But its a proven fact that your focus while driving drops when on the phone. Regardless of how good of a driver you think you are it still drops

I'm a firm believer in wearing a blue tooth headset in the car. I really burns my butt how many people drive while holding the phone up to their ear. They have a tendency to drive slower, which can also be a safety hazard.

How is this different from listening or singing with the radio? I'm not for either side by the way. I see people smoking and swerving (then littering) worse than people on cell phones. THen we have those putting makeup on. Or the kid standing in the back seat and not in a car seat (wait, isn't that against the law too?) So I think it's all a mute point. Put drivers in a bubble where they can only drive, hear emergency vehicles, and not be bothered. Otherwise, get over it.

I use the Motorola H12. Awesome unit.

First vehicle like that. May be a bit better than handheld but still distracting to be talking and driving. Dialing is still the same issue with big distraction.

The idea behind CA hands free law is to have a person keep both hands on the wheel to be able to maneuver quickly should they need to (car jumps in front of them and need to swerve quickly), and so they can look forward, and look around.

A Major reason accidents have not decreased is that while you may have both hands on the wheel now, people are still very wrapped up in their conversations, thus mentally they are not paying attention to what they are doing (driving), so reaction times are decreased

I'm just as distracted hands free or not. When I'm on the phone I lose my focus.

Listening to music is not the same, it is in the background and I don't have to focus my attention to it unlike a phone call. This is why I don't bother talking while I drive, your call can wait.

I use the Jabra SP700 Car Speakerphone. It works perfectly. I can stream music to my radio one minute and then take a call the next. All while keeping both hands on the wheel.

Impossible to not feel safer and less distracted if you are not using one arm to hold a phone. BT solutions; Honda Hands free link in my car, Plantronics Pro everywhere else.

The main problem is not that you're actually handling the phone or an accessory. Your attention is drastically reduced when using a phone in any way. you just won't focus as much on the road, etc. and that's when accidents happen. You're just better off stopping if you want to have a conversation.

With the Storm I just have my phone in a cradle on my dash and running through my stereo via the headphone jack. When a call comes in, answer, hit speaker and you have a fancy speakerphone playing over your car speakers. Now, the problem is my Storm's mic is acting up....

The problem is the conversation is distracting. Not the phone. And that goes for any conversation. Be it on a phone, or talking to the passenger. Infact, talking to a passenger may be more distracting since many people prefer to look at the person while they are talking. At least with a phone you are looking in the general direction of the road.

My solution is that I dont use my phone while driving. I drive an older stick-shift truck that is very loud. So its hard to hold a phone and shift at the same time, plus you can't hear people on the phone. So I just wait till I am stopped and out of the vehicle to talk on the phone. I know that wont work for most people because of business and such but thats just my solution....

Before I got my first hands-free headset (pre-Bluetooth), I didn't realize what a difference headsets make. After I used the headset, I realized that I don't turn my head as far when checking for other vehicles while holding a phone to my ear. I also only had 1 hand available for the wheel if driving conditions changed. Headsets make a major difference!

With that said, just as with in-car conversations, priorities have to be established. Driving is my priority, and I'll stop talking or ignore the person on the phone if needed in order to give extra condition to driving. Because everyone is different, if that's not something that a person can make themself do then they need to set their own rule not to use the phone while driving just as some won't adjust the radio while moving.

My girl friend uses a Motorola T305 BT speaker which has a great speaker, but you need to speak loudly. And I have a LG HBS-250 BT headset. Same issues. Both work perfectly, just mic quality isn't that great.

We both would never talk with our phones in our hands.

I'd have to say I LOVE my blueant V1 bluetooth headset. It is comfortable enough that I wear it anytime I'm in the car. It tells me what number is calling me and I can answer by saying "Answer". If I don't recognize the number I only need to glance at my phone. I would definitely say I feel safer with it as I prefer to have both hands on the wheel, or at least one on the wheel and one hand free and ready to put on the wheel if an emergency situation emerges. I hate holding a phone to my head whenever I forget my headset at home. The only downside to a headset is listening to music in your car. It definitely is a detriment to the music experience when you have anything in your ear and since I wear it at all times when I'm in my car... well you get the picture.

It is just a little safer for me as I drive a standard. It is a pain in the ass to shift gears while talking on the phone and drinking a coffee.

First of all, that cartoon is hilarious. A police officer should be suitably confounded if he is supposed to enforce the law against drivers holding cell phones to their ears with their hands and talking whilst driving, only to encounter a contortionist who has bypassed both law and electronics by holding the phone with his foot.

Questions reverberating in the officer's head might include: Is the act of talking on a cell phone with your foot inherently dangerous? If the officer is smart, this should lead to a corollary question: Does the car have a manual or automatic transmission? If the car has a manual transmission, stop, arrest and detain the man for reckless driving, since he can't handle the clutch and brake with just one foot.

If, however, it is an automatic transmission, this leads to a further dilemma. A car with an automatic transmission can be operated safely with one foot, since there is no clutch to contend with. But then, to what extent would the spectacle of a man talking with a phone cradled in his toes prove to be a distraction to other drivers on the road? If the officer concludes that the act would be a distraction, then this should in turn lead to a further question; how visible was the act? If it was highly visible, then stop, arrest and detain. If it was not highly visible to other drivers, perhaps owing to tinted windows and such, deliver a warning, and allow driver to continue on his way.

Anyways. I digress. I used to use my Bluetooth earpiece (a Jawbone by Aliph) pretty extensively. I do believe that it forestalls accidents and makes me more focused while driving, since I can answer any incoming calls with the click of a button on my ear. It is especially useful when making calls because all I have to do is press the button to access auto dialing and name the contact, all without actually touching the phone.

Also not having to hold the phone pinned to my ear frees up my hand for making turns and such. But Bluetooth devices burn my phone battery which is already bad enough, so I have taken to using stereo headsets. I like the stereo headsets because they don't consume any battery, and can easily be used to listen to music in between calls. It does, however, look more unprofessional, so I am less apt to take it to work with me. Oh, and for the record, I buy third-party stereo headsets because the OEM that comes with the phone is too large to fit in my ears, and the sound quality is mediocre. I am currently using a VModa that I am very happy with.

My car didn't come with native Bluetooth apparatus, and having seen first hand how well they work, I won't be buying a visor-mount Bluetooth package. I'll merely wait for my next car, and hope that it comes with it.

I've always thought that it's the conversation to blame and not just because I'm holding a cell phone to my ear. How often is smoking to blame for an accident because, ZOMG, they are holding a cigarette! (i dont smoke but just using this for the sake of the argument). Or what about eating while driving!

Personally, I use a BT headset to talk, and I try not to have a conversation in the "city" (not like NYC, much smaller where I live). But I'll talk on the thruway the whole ride because I don't have to worry about a) traffic lights/stops signs b) drivers running lights c) pedestrians. Not that it's "safer", just less to be wary of. And I certainly don't have a conversation in a parking lot cause that's waaay stupid.

It's kinda like people pouring themselves into clothes that are way to small for them - just because you can, doesn't mean you should...be smart about cell phone use!!

Its all about the "Situation" (and I don't mean the dude from Jeresy Shore). I have now problem with someone using their cellphone in there car while driving but you have to iunderstand which situations you can use it in. While backing up is a big NO. In heavy rain and snow again a big No. While driving in rush-hour traffic on the capital beltway a REALLY BIG NO. Driving down a highway with 5 car lenghts between you and the car infront of you sure feel free to use it. I can't tell you who many time I have told someone that I have been talking to on my blackberry while driving that I had to go because traffic was getting worse or because it started rain and I couldn't pay attention to them anymore.

Using hands free is a lot safer inmy opinion. Whats the difference between that and talking to someone in the passenger seat? Hands free allows the use of both hands just like when someone else is in the car with you. You still have to have the common sense to pay more attention to driving than the conversation which is asking a lot for some people.

Driving and doing any task including talking to a person whether you can see him/her or not is a distraction but...nothing comes close to driving while holding a phone or a cup of coffee, burger, fixing hair or adding some make up in the car.

I use a built-in Bluetooth system in my car, and feel it is definitely safer in some regards. I do not have to pull the phone out of my pocket, I usually just hit one button and it does everything. However, I have two phones, and switching back-and-forth is definitely not a one-handed process.

Last week I saw this article (below) at the Volokh Conspiracy. As a law student, I read those kinda blogs for fun (call me crazy). The article went on about how laws banning cell-phones while driving, did not change anything. So, makes me wonder if it really matters that we spends tons of money on Bluetooth hands-free and other hands-free devices.

http://volokh.com/2010/01/31/report-laws-banning-cell-phone-use-while-dr...

Taking a call and "talking towards the mirror" (with MS Sync) is way safer than many other things done while driving, such as...fishing around for a CD, trying to find a radio station, adjusting the GPS, carrying on a conversation with a passenger or tending to kids in the back seat. Making phone calls is not a problem.

When this "so-called" cell phone law never existed, I was driving and talking holding my cell phone all the time and I still paid attention to the rode and drove safe.

But now since they've thrown this (never should have happened) cell phone law into the mix, I haven't gone out and bought a hands-free bluetooth yet, and probably won't, as I just talk on my phone using the speaker phone option, but also, I have it hooked up to my car's stereo using a cassette tape that hooks up to my cell phone using a headphone jack. That's it.

Messing with hands-free accessories is not safe. Talking on the phone holding your cell phone is saf(er).. and that's that.

I don't know the statistics of how many people a year cause accidents or get into accidents while holding a cell phone, but I know it can't be that much, but then again, I could be wrong. If one person messes up, everyone pays for it. And that's the world we live in.

Learn how to drive first before attempting to drive while holding/talking on a cell phone.

Now texting/driving is a completely different story...

I currently pair my BB Tour to a Garmin 265 WT NAvigation unit and I love it. The sound quality is great and I have a convertible.

It's not the texting while driving that concerns me, it's those drivers who think they can drive while sexting... Let's utilize some common sense people.

I adopted the Borg look years ago with a Bluetooth headset and I've not looked back... But always let people know I'm driving and I'm not afraid to drop out of the conversation if I need to.

I can have a simple chat on the 'phone, but nothing in-depth or work related...

I'm a grown man; I can decide for myself what are safe and unsafe actions to be taken in the car. I don't need, nor do I want, the government telling me what to do in my car with my BlackBerry!!

I will continue texting and emailing while I drive.

First of all, the core premise that "cell phone usage causes crashes" predicates on the statistic that shows a higher percentage of people in a crash were using phones than used to be. This is a faulty metric to use. Causation and correlation aren't the same thing. Massively more people have cell phones than ever before, which alone accounts for huge increases in cell phones being "involved" in collisions.

Second, the premise that cell phone use is meaningfully more distracting than other typical automobile activities. A screaming infant in a car has got to be more distracting to a mother, for instance. Yet we don't force mothers with infants to have chauffeurs. Skipping breakfast will leave many people low-function, and huge portions of the populace drive around before they've had their "essential" morning coffee. These folks are impaired. Yet we don't for mandatory morning stimulants.

No. Cell phones are a visible irritant, which makes them a target. Selection bias indicates that people with agendas are going to seek nothing but evidence in their favor, instead of being statistically fair.

I used to use a Bluetooth head set but found I often forgot to put the head set on. That meant I had to put the head set on before I could answer. Needless to asat that didn't work out it was much too dangerous.

My preferred method is to use an FM transmitter since I tend to listen to podcasts or Pandora radio over my car stereo. When a call comes in I just hit the send button and talk over the phone's Mic and listen via my car speakers. the call quality is very good.

I agree with a lot of posters who mentioned call are distraction in themselves. Personally I like to keep my calls very short, most of my calls are done in 30 second.

Personally, I think its not the phone, but the individual. Some people can multitask and some just cannot. I have used bluetooth headsets, loudspeaker etc, its not different from using the actual phone, i mean you're not concentrating on the phone or the handsfree device but the conversation.. with that being said the nature of the conversation can affect the driver's concentration.
I have used my cellphone while driving and it didn't distract or impair my ability to control the car safely and concentrate on what was going on around me. It depends on the individual, and that being said, i have realized that i'd become more cautious while using the phone. Also, it does depend upon the conditions you are faced with whilst driving. e.g. heavy rain, low visibilties, traffic conditions etc. These are just some conditions where you can't afford to take chances and even if you're an excellent multitasker you shouldn't use the phone!

BT tech is cool and all, but the only reason that I buy any of it is because I'm just a geek who can't help himself. With that being said, I don't think that I drive any better, or worse, while employing BT tech.

But here's a better idea, don't talk and drive. Your conversation probably isn't that important to risk my life on the road. It's ok for me to do it. I'm a better driver than you are.

I honestly still prefer to use my tried and true wired headset. I use the Jabra JabWave headset. Its comfy, sounds good and I get no complaints from people with sound quality. Like you said, you dont have to pair it or charge it, just plug and talk and the wire doesnt really get in the way when your just sitting in your car. Simple and effective...

i Just use the speaker from my BlackBerry. I have a BlueTooth headset but don't use it for my BB (just for the ps3)

I'm into the service industry, I fix computers. Fixing computers is very thought intensive, diagnosing someones computer on the phone, with bluetooth, plus driving, is not productive to a long life.

I can multitask, but I'm not that great. Not worth it. And even then for a every day person, or even one who multitasks, its not worth it either. I've driven around a lot, and let me tell you, things get interesting when someones on the phone, then starts banging on their steering wheel, and screaming. Yeeeaaa..... Luckily she managed to get out of her car after she drove it into a telephone pole.

...but both hands-free or holding the phone are still distracting.

And yes, talking to a passenger can be just as distracting for those drivers who feel the need to turn their heads to face the passenger. But there's one major difference: The passenger will very likely alert (i.e., say something to or even scream at) the driver if the driver begins drifting, swerving or driving erratically or if the driver doesn't see a hazard up ahead (something the person on the other end of the phone can't do).

I use a Bluetooth headset and voice activation too make calls all the time in the car or otherwise. Just push a button at my ear and tell the phone who to call. OR, push the button to receive a call. It's less distracting than talking to someone next to you as you don' keep turning to look at them. Ii feel much better using my BB this way than any other I have tried.

I think it really depends on the driver in the end. But its definitly safer driving with a bluetooth on because you don't have to reach out your hand to grab the phone when you want to answer it. And I believe shoulder checking and stuff will be easier too since having ur hands next to ur ear will cover some of the blind spot and turning ur head around will be a bit tougher as well.

I don't actually receive many calls, so I'm happy to put my BB aside in the vehicle and use the Onstar phone in it, dialing with voice commands.

driving with in-car blue tooth is like talking to someone else in the car. Our 08 Rogue even shows the # of the person calling on the stereo display. Touch a button on the steering wheel and you're good to go.

I think it's as safe as smoking while you drive. Or if you have kids in the back seat. Or if your mother-in-law is sitting next to you.

It still is dangerous to be talking while driving, especially if it is a heated discussion. Bluetooth should be worn and not be holding the phone to the ear. Most definitely. But also when you have a passenger with you and are talking...same thing can be a distraction when you really think about it. Anything can be distracting from drinking water to talking.

We need to be more aware when driving. Stupidity causes accidents and safety should be the top priority and concern.

I prefer to not talk but if necessary, the bluetooth is in my ear. I want to be safe when I am driving and I hope the same for other drivers. I see it all the time though. Phone to the ear. I don't think it is wise. It is my opinion.

I use a Plantronics 925 whenever I leave my house, my Bold stays in my pocket nearly 100% of the time, to use a cell phone while driving is simply not smart, to text while driving is simply put, Ignorant, only a fool would not see the danger of this, I saw on CNN that California is considering tripleing the fine for cell phone use in a car and some US Lawmaker wants it to be illigal nationwide, it is very dificult to legislate ignorance out of some people though.