Cell phone distraction while driving causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the US every year. Voice commands reduce the risk of driver distractions because drivers can keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.
Contestants equipped with a traditional cell phone competed against a driver using Nuance speech solutions to conduct a number of mobile device-related tasks in a simulated driving environment. Speed was not the critical measurement in this race, but rather minimizing distraction and ensuring safety by allowing the driver to keep his hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Drivers were tasked with finding a local business, sending a text message and playing a specific MP3 music selection -- several of the typical distractions plaguing drivers today. For each challenge, the speech-equipped driver quickly completed the task without a single crash while the competitors crashed multiple times without ever completing the task.
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