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According to AAA (American Automobile Association) about 9 million cars are now fitted with voice recognition systems. This number is forecast to soar to 62 million in five years.  Research shows that hands-free speech dictation technology is still a distraction for drivers and can cause vehicle accidents.

"We think that if we are loud enough and persistent enough then we can save some lives by educating people and making them think twice about using these systems when they get behind the wheel," said AAA spokesman Jacob Nelson.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued guidelines to address both visual and manual sources of driver distraction; however, according to the June 2013, University of Utah research report, Measuring Cognitive Distraction in the Automobile, there are no published standards that explicitly and exclusively apply to cognitive distraction.  The goal of the university's research, sponsored by AAA, was to establish a "systematic framework for measuring and understanding cognitive distraction in a vehicle". 

Researchers conducted three experiments:

1. Controlled experiment where the participants conducted eight different tasks without being in a vehicle.
2. Experiment where the participants performed the same tasks while in a high-fidelity simulator, and
3. Experiment where the participants performed the eight tasks while driving an instrumented vehicle in a residential section of a city.

The results of these three experiments were that hands-free speech-to-text devices were more distracting than even speaking on a cell phone.

NBC News Reporter, Tom Costello participated in a re-enactment of the experiment as reported on Today  June 12, 2013.  Mr. Costello's response time to a green light was nearly 10% slower than when not using a hands-free speech-to-text device. 

"Distracted driving causes auto accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents.  These accidents can be devastating and change lives forever as frequently reported in the news media.  Using any device while driving is dangerous," says Fort Myers Accident Lawyer, Randall Spivey of Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.

Fort Myers Personal Injury Lawyer,  Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by less than 2 percent of Florida attorneys. He has handled over 1,600 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida. For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at  239. 337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839, or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com  for more information. You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.