Car crashes and hands-free kits

December 2003 saw the introduction of a new law banning the use of hand-held mobiles while driving. Scientists had long been suggesting this ban, believing that it would cut the number of car crashes caused by mobile phone distraction. Whilst some drivers persisted in using hand-held mobiles, many motorists turned to hands-free mobile kits instead so that they could keep on chatting whilst driving without breaking the law.

However, further research has revealed evidence supporting what some road safety groups have been saying from the start: using a hands-free kit to chat whilst driving is as highly distracting as using a hand-held mobile and doing so puts the motorist at high risk of a car crash. But just how dangerous is talking on the phone while driving?

The danger of hands-free kits
Most people will agree that driving after having consumed alcohol is just asking for a road accident to happen because having a drink causes reactions to be slowed significantly and judgement to be skewed. In fact, it is safe to say that most people would rate drink-drivers as one of the most high-risk motorists on the UK's roads.

However, shocking research from The Transport Research Laboratory has revealed that there is a class of motorist just as dangerous as drink-drivers; hands-free kit users. In the study, the research organisation ran a comparison between the reaction times in those using a hand-held or hands-free mobile and those who had been drinking alcohol.

The results showed that those using either hand-held mobiles or hands-free kits have reaction speeds that were 30% slower than those who had been drinking alcohol, and 50% slower than the average unimpaired motorist. These kinds of reaction times mean that phone-related car accidents are still pretty much inevitable, even for hands-free kit users.

When the driver gets so involved in the conversation they are having on their mobile, they don't spot and indeed are not looking for early warning signs and upcoming hazards. Some researchers believe that the brain simply can't handle all incoming information about changing surroundings at the same time as it processes a conversation.

Cost-free car crash compensation
If you have been hurt in a car crash caused by someone who was using their mobile phone, you may well be entitled to claim personal injury compensation. They may have been the driver of the vehicle you were in or another road user; whichever the case, you can make a no win, no fee claim against their insurers.

When you make a compensation claim for your car accident through YouClaim's panel of personal injury solicitors, you don't have to pay a penny. We guarantee that your claim will be totally cost-free for you and that we will make no deductions from the road accident compensation you are awarded.

Find out more about claiming compensation for your car crash injury by calling 0800 10 757 95 now. Alternatively, leave a call-back request or chat to us online via e-chat.