So says Leejay Carrozzo, marketing manager at Smart Automotive Components (SMAC) - the company which recently launched a Bluetooth colour hands-free car kit with embedded GPS localisation activities. SMAC is the local distributor for French-based Parrot.

Says Carrozzo: "A University of Utah study has revealed that when young motorists talk on cell phones, they drive like elderly people. They apparently move and react more slowly, thereby increasing the overall risk of accidents. In fact, research shows that if you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cellular phone, their reaction times are comparable to that of a 70-year-old who is not using a cell phone while driving. This is one of the fundamental reasons why hands-free car kits, including Bluetooth car kits, are becoming more popular."

He said over the past twelve months SMAC has experienced an exceptional increase in the sale of Bluetooth car kits. "This shows that people are starting to take safety issues seriously," he adds.

According to David Stranger, a University of Utah psychology professor and principal author of the study, if young people drive and talk it is like "instantly aging a large number of drivers."

Meanwhile, Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology and study co-author, said: "If you want to act old really fast, then talk on a cell phone while driving."

The new study by Strayer and Drews was published in an issue of Human Factors, the quarterly journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The study found that when 18- to 25-year-olds were placed in a driving simulator and talked on a cellular phone, they reacted to brake lights from a car in front of them with the reaction speeds of 65- to 74-year-olds who were not using a cell phone.

The elderly drivers, meanwhile, became even slower to react to brake lights when they spoke on a cell phone. Although driving skills for elderly drivers were not as bad as anticipated - when driving and talking - the research did show that older people performing multiple tasks suffer additional impairment due to aging.

The study found that drivers who talked on cell phones - regardless of whether they were young or old - were 18% slower in applying their brakes than drivers who didn't use cell phones. Interestingly, drivers talking on cell phones also had a 12% greater following distance - presumably an effort to compensate for paying less attention to road conditions. It also took them 17% longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked.

In addition: "There was also a twofold increase in the number of [simulated] rear-end collisions when drivers were conversing on cell phones," the study says.