A new study is suggesting even the supposedly-safer hands-free devices may be more of a problem than we think.

Hands-free technology is considered by many people to be a safe option to talking on your cell phone, but a new study suggests that might not be the case.

“What our research is showing that even interacting with a hands-free system still increases mental workload,” says Joel Cooper with the University of Utah. “It still causes driver distraction.”

The study was completed in the United States by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. They measured brain activity during various levels of distraction. In Barrie, Ont., DriveWise says if a similar study were to be done in Canada, the results would be the same.

DriveWise operates driving simulators and training programs in Barrie, similar to the ones used in the study. Even just answering a phone call using a Bluetooth device resulted in a crash in the simulator.

“Where you would normally you would be a passenger … in heavy traffic, you might stop talking to the driver,” says DriveWise president and CEO Lesley de Repentigny. “Whereas if you are on the phone with them you might keep your talk going.”

And some people, police say, aren’t getting the message. The OPP says people talking on their cellphones and being distracted is still all too common.

Already this year there have been 8,500 charges laid. Between 30 and 50 per cent of accidents in Ontario are linked to distracted driving.

OPP Sgt. Peter Leon says if an officer sees a driver with a phone or device in their hand, fines can be given.

“Some people feel holding the device in your hand and talking into it as opposed to having it up to their ear is acceptable,” he says. “That is not the meaning of the legislation.”

For de Repentigny, the new technology being put into cars and cellphones may be legal, but that doesn’t make it safer.

“I do think the new technology that’ being put into vehicles needs a lot more research for the human-factor elements before it becomes state of the art,” she says.

DriveWise says anything that takes your attention off the road, even if it’s legal, can be dangerous and can affect your ability to handle a car safely.