I recently traveled with an acquaintance for the first time. We were in her car and she was driving. She talks with her hands and frequently let go of the wheel to talk with said hands. This lasted several seconds (but seemed longer to me) and only reattached to the wheel when the car started to swerve. I let her know I was worried and she said “we are fine”. Were we? I don’t think so but I want some information to show to her. I will probably not travel with her again unless I drive.
Basic logic here - no hands = no control. VERY DANGEROUS! It’s ‘fine’ until the crash.
Long ago, I resolved to never again travel in the cars of a couple of people whom I know.
One of them had the habit of looking at his passengers when he spoke to them, and because his nickname was “Chatty Cathy”, he talked constantly and took his eyes off the road constantly.
The other person is a an inveterate tailgater, of the “5 feet behind the other car” variety.
I value my life far too much to put my safety into the hands of people like this, no matter how much I might like them as people.
It’s just so much easier–and far safer–to say, “Let’s take my car!”.
Well No hands is ok maybe as sometimes I steer with your knees but not hands free for talking, filling a coffee cup from thermos 1 example, How long has the person been driving like this without an accident? 5 years or more?
One bump with no hands on the wheel, the car swerves suddenly, the driver panics, over corrects, and the car goes rolling. Bad habit.
I think that I’d be even more worried about the “Chatty Cathy” and tailgater VDCdriver referred to. That would drive me nuts and would be the last time I’d ride with them.
Semi trailers have an underride bar (sometimes called a Mansfield bar) and even with those in place many people have died when they discovered at the last second just how quickly a big rig can stop.
You are not apt to change the habitual driving style of most drivers, especially when they do not believe/agree when someone says some habit is unsafe such as no hands on the wheel, no eyes on the road, tailgating, etc.
Your best choice is to avoid being a passenger with such drivers.
Just offer to drive instead. I agree with @VDCdriver. There are people I will not ride with because even if they don’t get into an accident, they will cause me to have a heart attack riding with them. Hands-free, look-at-you-talkers, tailgaters, phone users and late-brakers all give me fits. I’ll always volunteer to drive for these folks.
The rest of the folks here have nicely explained why the hands-free driver is dangerous.
ok4450: I doubt if there are very many of us left who know why the “Mansfield bar” is called that.
^
If any of the younger people in this forum want to know about the reason for the Mansfield bar being named as it is, just ask, and one of the old-timers (like me) will be glad to explain it.
I am interested in knowing, please, despite not being a younger inquirer. 
Marnet-the Mansfield bar actually has a proper name but called that because the actress Jayne Mansfield and two other adults were killed by going under the back of a trailer. Google and you can get the whole story.
Jayne Mansfield died when the Buick Electra 225 in which she was riding hit the rear of a tractor-trailer, and “under-rode” the back of the truck. The tragic result was that the roof of the car was sheared off to about the midpoint of the roof, and Jayne–who had been riding in the front seat–was decapitated. Truly, truly tragic.
The accident took place on a foggy night in Louisiana, and it is likely that her chauffeur was driving too fast for conditions in order to get her to her stage appearance on time.
As a result, we now have the bars hanging underneath the back of trailers in order to try to prevent similar deaths.
Ah, thank you. Sounds gruesome.
If you’re familiar with the Law and Order actress Mariska Hargitay, she is Jayne Mansfield’s daughter and survived the crash because she was asleep in the back seat.
What an awakening that would be; eyes wide open to find mom and others mangled and beheaded.
I had heard about how Jayne Mansfield died and that Mariska Hargity is her daughter. I just hadn’t made the connection to the safety bars on the back end of semis. In recent years I have begun seeing some semis with such protective bars on the sides also.
@Marnet
In case you didn’t recall this detail, Jayne’s husband–Mickey Hargitay–won the title of Mr. Universe in 1955, and also acted in a few films. Here is a link to a publicity photo of them together:
