[ics]

Any scenario where you'd want to use the speaker phone has little to do with noise. Sometimes I want it while driving because I don't have a headset (and don't plan on getting one, since I don't own a car and drive rarely). Or in the shop while drilling, soldering, or whatever. Or outside working on something. It's about using the phone while doing something else, often something that you couldn't do with something blocking one ear or dangling anything from your head. Then of course there's the case where multiple people are listening/speaking through the same phone.

[soperj]

Seriously.. just don't talk while driving. It's dangerous for everyone.

[ics]

I would love to not talk while driving. I would also like to not listen while driving. In fact, I would like to not drive while driving! That being said, I'm much less concerned about spending a minute talking to a dispatcher than the guy/gal flying down I-95 while breaking up with someone over the phone. (Speaking of which, at least with a phone you can hang up... but some passengers, man...)

Edit: I would also posit that in some cases, a short phone call can actually do a great deal to remove distraction if it is a settleable matter. The conversation you have in your head while driving may be just as bad as the one you'd have on the phone, except that it may dwell longer.

[72deluxe]

Very true about the conversation in your head. You can sometimes drive great distances and not remember any part of the journey, which is worrying in case you missed dangerous road conditions etc.

This is particularly true if you have a "lot on your plate".

Perhaps putting on an irritating radio station would help?

[Rotten194]

If you can't multitask enough to talk while driving, you should not be driving in the first place.

[cheepin]

All research I've seen finds that talking while driving, even if it's just to a passenger increases accidents by a large amount. Other studies show that people tend to vastly overestimate their multitasking abilities.

So in short: very few people can actually talk safely while driving, and the people that think they can probably can't.

[arjie]

Most interestingly, it seems that people who think they're good multi-taskers are actually the worst at it[1]. They are more likely to be impulsive and more likely to indulge in risk-taking.

1: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/24/170160105/if-you-...

[Dylan16807]

Maybe. The study does show that people that multi-task a lot are bad at multi-tasking. But it says that they didn't find a significant correlation between perceived and actual ability, while also assuming a negative correlation in part of their write-up. They also found that most people rate themselves 'above average', but that's not surprising.