Half of Drivers Have No Hands-Free Device for Cell Phones
May 27, 2008
A new survey conducted by automotive consumer web site BuyingAdvice.com shows that half of the drivers on the road today do not have a hands-free device for using their cell phones.
Fifty percent of the respondents to the online poll conducted among new car buyers using the site’s web price quote service said they currently had no hands-free device and only 22 percent said it was important to them that hands-free equipment was built into their new car.
This comes as safety advocates are increasingly concerned about the impact of drivers’ use of cell phones on safety on the roadways.
One study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that motorists who use cell phones while driving are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
While there is some debate on the correlation between hands-free devices and accidents, many advocates say that the use of such devices would at least reduce the numbers. Forty-five percent of buyers however, say the inclusion of these devices in the new car they are looking at is not an important factor in their buying decision. Thirty-two percent said that it was somewhat important, while only 22 percent stated that it was very important.
Asked to choose the most desirable hi-tech accessory in their new car, drivers ranked both navigation systems (34 percent) and DVD players (23 percent) higher than voice activation for cell phones (14 percent).
Given that more than 254 million people now have cell phones in the United States, it is interesting to note how many people claimed to rarely use them while driving. Twenty-six percent claimed that they never used their cell phone while driving, while another 37 percent stated that they used them less than one hour a week. A further 15 percent estimated their usage at below 13 hours per week, with only 21 percent of respondents saying they used their cell phone for over 3 hours per week.
All 1,967 participants in the poll were drawn from among the over 50,000 new car buyers who request competitive online price quotes from BuyingAdvice.com each month. All respondents stated they were within 30 days of purchasing a new vehicle.
This survey was the latest in a series of polls being conducted by BuyingAdvice.com which taken together provides one of the most up-to-date and comprehensive pictures of the car market today. BuyingAdvice.com is a consumer advice and Internet price quote site that features tips and advice for car buyers, new car reviews and the latest news and information from the automotive world.
