Is hands free really any safer?

[Ontheboardwalk]

Driving to work this morning and spotted a woman in my rear view mirror clearly having a heated conversation on hands free. Face all screwed up and arms everywhere.

I thought to myself 'that’s an accident waiting to happen' 2 minutes later she hits the back of my car!

it was a touch rather than a bump and no damage done apparently she forgot to put her handbrake on and rolled forward. I told her she shouldn’t have been on the phone, her response was it was hands free and absolutely fine. In my mind however she was clearly distracted and not concentrating on driving.

AIBU? I never use even hands as I find it distracting

Unless it is an emergency I'll always say I'll call you back if somebody is on hands free. It is completely distracting - you end up talking unnaturally like on speaker phone - ie without knowing it - face turned more to the speaker but eyes on the road, you raise your voice so you can be heard properly, you even say hang on a sec I'm coming up to a roundabout. You are not using your muscle memory driving skills and your concentration is elsewhere.

It is different chatting to a passenger, that is not artificial and forced and also the passenger can see junctions/crossings/roundabouts coming up so usually shut up whilst the driver concentrates on those.

YANBU OP.

I had a near miss not long after passing my test because I was on hands free at the time. Felt sick to my stomach for weeks afterwards thinking about what could have happened - and I'd thought I was being safe and concentrating normally (was just a call from my doctor to say prescription was ready, nothing involved), but I obviously wasn't. Would never do it again and keep my phone in my bag in the car now.