just as distracting as typing them. here's abc's paula faris. >> reporter: we have shown how distracting driving can be, whether with your kids in the back seat or phone in hand. when i took my eyes off the highway for just over 2 seconds, i traveled half the length of a football field. and while you might think using your phone's voice to text feature is making your ride safer, a study out today says it is just as dangerous as manual texting. in fact, this first of its kind research, a small study of 45 drivers. claims that driving performance slows down while you text, whether it is manual or voice to text. >> this report shows you are in just as much danger when you are using a voice driven way to text as if you are sitting in the driver's seat typing away with your phones. >> reporter: you are 23 times more likely to get into a car crash while texting. so the consumer is now driving automakers to install technology they assume makes the car safer into their vehicles.