EXPERIMENT: Are hands-free devices really safer than hand-held?

Pretty much all modern cars are fitted with hands-free kits to stop drivers from using hand-held devices while travelling from A to B.

But does safety really improve when drivers use hands-free devices?

The guys from MythBusters decided to test speculation that hands-free devices are supposedly safer than hand-held ones.

To do this, they ran two tests on an obstacle track:

For the first test, Adam had to drive through the track and its obstacles with a phone held in his hand. The second test was to do the same track again using a hands-free device.

Also read: 8 ways to avoid distractions and accidents 

Then Jamie did the test, but in the reverse order: hands-free first, hand-held second.

The pair then head to the Stanford University Automotive Innovation facility to try out their test using a state-of-the-art driving simulator for more realistic conditions.

The results may surprise you, but perhaps phone calls while driving should be avoided altogether.

Watch the video to see their results.

Video via Youtube