(Telecompaper) New research from the School of Psychology at the UK's University of Sussex has found that driving while talking on a hands-free phone can be as distracting as talking on a hand-held mobile. Published in the 'Transportation Research' journal, the study found that drivers having conversations which sparked their visual imagination detected fewer road hazards than those who didn't. They also focused on a smaller area of the road ahead of them and failed to notice dangers, even when they looked directly at them.