Are Hands Free Devices a Safe Alternative?

Overview

With most people accepting the dangers of texting and driving, hands-free devices have been regarded as a safe alternative. The purpose of this project was to see if using hands-free devices resulted in a faster reaction time compared to texting and how it relates to a distraction free reaction time. To test this, subjects were told to identify when a light changed from green to red. Each subject completed three trials with no distractions, while texting, and while using a hands-free device. After collecting the data, the average time for distraction free is much shorter compared to both texting and using a hands-free device. However, the average time for using a hands-free device is shorter than the average time for texting, but the difference is statistically insignificant. Thus, this supports the hypothesis that reaction times for using a hands-free device are statistically equivalent to using a handheld phone for texting. These findings will be beneficial to drivers as individuals must maintain focus to prevent car accidents.

Competition history

• ISEF 2015 Systems Software · Entry BEHA057I

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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