Is Voice Dictation Really Safer Than Texting While Driving?

Since the advent of texting, car accidents involving texting and driving have become common. You hear a ping on your cell phone and may believe that sending a quick text while driving is no big deal, or maybe you might assume that using voice dictation instead of typing allows you to be safer. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, distracted drivers, whether texting or voice dictating, are more dangerous than drunk drivers!

Our team at Impact Medical Sun City Center discusses why it is best to put your cell phone away until you reach your destination, regardless of voice dictation capabilities.

Distracted Driving

Texting is one of the most unsafe things that you can do behind the wheel because it causes you to drive distracted. Sadly, distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents and fatalities.

Of course, there is the technology to text by voice dictation rather than using your fingers, but it is not any safer to do while driving. You’re still distracted.

In a Texas A&M Transportation Institute study, it was found that drivers who used voice-to-text on their iPhones and Android phones and drove on a closed course were no safer using the voice technology than they were if they were texting manually.

Why? Because the problem here is not the activity itself, rather it is the level of distraction. Formulating and dictating a text message with voice text requires just as much concentration as typing one. The bottom line is that when texting, whether manually or with voice messaging, drivers aren’t watching the road properly which leads to slower reaction times and accidents.

Cognitive Distraction

Yes, voice dictation probably feels safer. After all, your eyes are on the road, and your hands are on the steering wheel. This false sense of security is exactly why texting while driving is so dangerous. You think that it is safer, so you’re willing to do it.

Drivers who talk on the phone or use voice text are more likely to ignore traffic signals and follow other vehicles more closely than they would otherwise. Like daydreaming, texting, or using voice text puts you into a distracted state of tunnel vision that makes your driving more reactive than proactive.

These distractions, known as cognitive distractions, are the most dangerous because they cause you to lose focus which can lead to a crash. When you text with voice dictation, you aren’t responding as you would if you were having a conversation with a passenger in your car, rather you’re navigating phone menus in your head, considering sentence structure, and you may even add punctuation. It’s a lot to do while you’re driving!

Avoid Distracted Driving

Regardless of how a driver texts, their reaction times are double that of other drivers. Sending or reading a text could take your eyes off the road for 5 seconds or more. If you think about it, if you are driving at 55 mph, that’s like driving the entire length of a football field with your eyes closed. You cannot drive safely if you aren’t giving the road your full attention.

It’s simple. To guarantee driver, passenger, and even pedestrian safety, don’t text and drive. That goes for both manual and voice texting. Federal data notes that about 3,300 people die each year in accidents attributed to distracted driving; please don’t contribute to the problem!

Injured Due to Distracted Driving?

If you have been injured in a car accident due to another person’s distracted driving and negligence, visit our car accident clinic at Impact Medical Sun City Center. Our doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists will help you begin your recovery journey.

Don’t delay. Come visit us in Sun City Center or call our team to make an appointment today; 813-938-5195!