Like I said in the other thread, in my experience, nothing is more distracting that texting. Not even speaking on the phone. I know studies say otherwise, but I’m talking about my own experience. It might help that I don’t just talk on the phone for the sake of talking. I’m either on the phone saying I am going to be late, or talking to my dad, and I only do the latter when I have a long stretch of straight road ahead of me (highway driving).
I have texted and drove and nothing even comes near it in terms of distraction. Everything else is a second or two of distraction at the most.
I highly, highly disagree that simply listening to music is a distraction at all. I know that if I were to sit in silence in my car, glumly staring at the road ahead of me, I would fall asleep. I listen to the music so I can sing along loudly* and I try very hard never to eat while I am driving. I will drink coffee or my smoothie in the mornings, though.
*Most of the time I don’t even hear the phone ringing when I drive because of this.
(Talking on the phone is more distracting than talking to people in real life. I think it’s because your car passenger will generally shut up when they see traffic situations worsen, but not always either.)
Oh, the last thing is navigating to a place. I’m mediocre at directions. I have honed many skills over the years to make myself better than mediocre, but if I am going to a new place, I still struggle. I’ve gone from paper directions to having directions on my tablet to now the best option - my new tablet has google voice, so I just say “Ok google…take me to 677 Broadway Albany”, make sure the volume is up before I start, and then just follow her instructions. I love it and it’s the best thing ever.