>My car has onboard voice controls, but, unlike Siri via the car's audio system, they suck
Using Siri is more dangerous than driving and texting:
"Undistracted drivers typically showed a one-second reaction time. Those who used the voice-controlled Apple CarPlay saw a 36% increase in their reaction time, which rose to 57% when they used the touch interface."
It's a little unfair to say that it's worse than texting. The increase to reaction time for texting was 34.7%, while Android Auto only showed an increase of 30% on voice. The 36% increase for Siri also was specifically for voice navigation, with voice media control showing no statistically significant increase in reaction time.
You're likely keeping your eyes on the road more with voice control over texting, though this one is hard to compare as the studies didn't measure it quite the same. Voice controls all came in under the NHTSA 12 second recommendation. The texting study showed an increase in time spent looking away from the road from a baseline of 10% to 40%.
Yeah, well, people are selective in their concerns. How much does it affect reaction time to have passengers in the car who you may talk to, or may be doing all sorts of things that distract you?
No. Even if they were helping, they would have to communicate things to you in a way where you could interpret them and react more quickly than just doing it yourself.
Passengers are largely not helping, and certainly are not good at communicating problems.
Using Siri is more dangerous than driving and texting:
"Undistracted drivers typically showed a one-second reaction time. Those who used the voice-controlled Apple CarPlay saw a 36% increase in their reaction time, which rose to 57% when they used the touch interface."
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/03/20/new-study-shows-u...
Touchscreens should be banned in cars. I bought my car without any for that reason.