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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."
While this article seems to state that doing anything passive task while driving impairs the drivers ability to drive at full capacity, I don't think it is as cut and dry as it is being made out to be. I know that I start to lose focus on the road when I am doing NOTHING ELSE but driving. The monotony just turns your brain off to the whole situation... which is why if for whatever reason I can't listen to the radio, I limit my driving to any place I can get to in 10 or so minutes.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Yes, even just talking to a passenger distracts one while driving. I almost always drive alone. When I have a passenger with whom to gab, especially if it's a topic that I find interesting, I miss exits way more often than I do when there is no conversation. Granted, I consider myself a below-average navigator and only a modest multitasker, but consider this additional anecdotal evidence that seemingly innocuous distractions can lead to deficient driving.
Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
This research might be true for driving in heavily urban areas, where safe driving requires the processing of many, many variables such as cars all around, lane changes, keeping your blind spots clear, reading road signs, and general navigation so that you end up where you are trying to go.
However, the OPPOSITE is true for driving long distances on relatively empty freeways in rural areas. Take, for example, the 600 mile stretch from El Paso, TX to San Antonio, TX which consists of an abundance of two things: diddly and squat. If drivers on this stretch has no other stimulus, they are in danger of entering the highly dangerous state of hypnotic disassociation (sometimes calls highway hypnosis or white line fever), where the conscious brain practically shuts down and you go into auto-pilot -- completely unable to react to anything quickly. If something does happen suddenly, the driver "snaps out" and is disoriented for a second. Usually by that point, its already far too late.
Keeping your mind alert through talking to a passenger or listening to heavy metal on the radio actually helps prevent this condition.
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> > I'm totally against (hands full) cellphone calls while driving.
>
> Everybody is against that.
Definitely not everyone is where I live !!!
I live in Germany and cycle everyday to work. Handsfull car phones have been illegal for some time here. My favourite game whilst sitting at a junction waiting for the lights to change is to watch the cars on green going across the junction (I am usually at the head of the queue as I am in the cycle lane). More often than not I will see at least one phone user during the single phase that I am sitting there for.
I fail to see how you can say someone complaining about cell phone use in cars is a hypocrite. There is a massive difference between a sensible alert driver and someone driving with one hand. It's less of an issue in America where most people drive automatics, but manual cars are in the majority here in the UK, so anyone driving with one hand is causing a major hazard, and yes I've seen plenty of people doing it. When you drive with due care and attention it's extremely unlikely that you will have an accident. Any accident that is caused by other drivers could affect you just as much as a pedestrian as they would if you were in a car. You'd be more likely to survive in a car than as a pedestrian though. There are places where cars can go that pedestrians don't, but I don't think those areas are any more dangerous than walking around town either. Especially on motorways/freeways with a central reservation blocking off oncoming traffic.
which is totally what she said
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Of course it's still a distraction, but there is a big difference between looking for all the parts you need to receive a call and pushing the answer button on your steering wheel. I must also stress that the mindset (and even culture) of the driver seems to play an important role: If you compare speed limits and other restrictions on an international level you'll see that nations with stricter rules do not necessarily perform better regarding the driver/death ratio (especially the US or Australia).
The aim should be to to encourage drivers to act reasonably on their own and to provide technology which avoids as much distraction as possible. Based on personal experience* this works quite well compared to new laws.
*I'm living in one of the few countries not featuring a general speed limit. I love to cruise at 150 miles/h (240km) on the highway, but if there is anything distracting my focus (weather, my sister, an interesting radio feature about something) I'll switch to the slowest lane and try to make the best of my time. The general crowd over here seems to have a similar opinion regarding this - we have less accidents and less deaths per driver compared to the US. On the downside it takes more time and costs way more money to get a driver's license.
I don't read replies by ACs.