Driving While Distracted More Dangerous Than Supposed

Science News reports on recent research indicating that any kind of multitasking while driving is dangerous. Not just the obvious distraction of juggling a cell phone, but even talking to a passenger or listening to a book on tape. The researchers used a driving simulator inside an MRI machine to measure brain activations. "Attending to what someone says galvanizes language-related brain areas while simultaneously reducing activity in spatial regions that coordinate driving behavior. This finding suggests that people who combine relatively automatic tasks, such as speech comprehension and car driving, exceed a biological limit on the amount of systematic brain activity they can accommodate at one time, the researchers propose. As a result, the less-ingrained skill — in this case, driving, which is learned long after a person grasps a native language — takes a neural hit."

Comments

I have to disagree

[scire9]

because I'm driving right now while typing this post on my laptop and I'm not in the least bit distra

Re:I have to disagree

[JustShootMe]

Huh. I think someone just had an accident outside my apartment.

and why did that laptop just come flying through the window?

cted

Re:I have to disagree

[maxume]

It was awful nice of you to click on "Post" for him.

Re:I have to disagree

[Mordok-DestroyerOfWo]

So that's who just ran me down!

Re:I have to disagree

[Anonymous Coward]

The "Post"-mortum button?

Re:I have to disagree

[Mordok-DestroyerOfWo]

No worries, that rib always breaks.

Re:I have to disagree

[nahdude812]

The plural of "anecdote" is not "data".

You're right, it's "empirical evidence."

Re:I have to disagree

[smellotron]

Ya know, if I used public transportation already, this would NOT be a problem.

Fixed that for you (if you live somewhere urban, at least).

2 things I noted.

[Anonymous Coward]

First of, a "driving simulator" inside an MRI does seem rather distracting. Those things are LOUD.

Secondly, is the summary actually advocating driver's training before a kid even learns to talk?

Re:Dear Slashdot readers

[JustShootMe]

How about a whole site full of them?.

Or maybe you can tell her off yourself.

Well that answers the Atlanta question....

[3seas]

...of why traffic is so damn slow, everyone is distracted.

Its must be like a domino effect, one person gets distracted via cell phone and a few others get distracted by the stupid pointless slowdown of the first on a cell phone, so they call traffic advisory... etc... or someone pulls off to the side of the road and causes the same domino effect. And then there are the instigators who have a bumper sticker that reads "I slow for tailgaters" ,,, uh like this is rush hour city traffic.....

Re:Dear Slashdot readers

[urcreepyneighbor]

We love that one. Did you hear the one about the sociopath who got cutoff by a soccermom on a cell phone? Yeah, seems he followed her home, waited outside her house until night, broke in and... well, I'm sure you can image the rest of the story. Goes without saying that duct tape, a baseball bat, and a few pairs of women underwear were involved.

Gruesome mess. Just awful.

When the cops finally arrived, the poor git - dressed in women's panties and covered in blood - was screaming "Can you hear me now, bitch?! Honk-honk!"

I would like to know

[Anonymous Coward]

what the hell this has to do with Microsoft?

Solution

[DigitalisAkujin]

Fine, so lets ingrain driving before language!

Baby cars!

Re:Multitasking test

[maxume]

Is it bad that I immediately thought "75 mph" when I read "how fast they're actually going when they're driving 120 kilometer/hour"?

I do agree with your point though, people drive in an astonishingly aggressive fashion, even at high speeds where seconds are serious distances.