Teens & Smartphones Part of Bigger Distracted Driving Problem

Distracted driving has become a major problem on America’s roadways. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2013, 3,154 people were killed and 424,000 were injured in crashes caused by distracted driving. The NHTSA estimates during daylight hours over 660,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a cell phone at any given moment.

Drivers on cell phones are what almost everyone thinks of when talking about distracted driving, but distracted driving is caused by a wide variety of behaviors. Performing tasks such as grooming, fiddling with the radio or navigation system, talking to passengers and eating or drinking behind the wheel can also cause fatal distractions.

Teenage drivers are most at risk. Researchers at the University of Iowa examined dashcam video of 1,691 crashes with drivers aged 16 to 19 and found 58% were either inattentive or involved in a non-driving-related activity when the crash occurred. Drivers who were using cell phones spent an average of 4.1 seconds out of the final 6 seconds before the crash looking away from the road. They also failed to react before impact more than half of the time.

The Multitasking Myth

Many drivers think they can multitask without affecting their driving performance. In reality, the human brain is terrible at dealing with more than one thinking task at a time. Instead of processing everything simultaneously, it switches back and forth between tasks. Every time the brain switches focus, there is a recovery period where it is not functioning at optimal levels. While there hasn’t been much research focusing on multitasking drivers, studies focusing on workers have found multitasking increases mistakes, lengthens learning time, impairs retention and lowers productivity.

Studies have found drivers using cell phones actually have slower reaction times than drunk drivers with a .08 blood alcohol level. When their brain is concentrating on a task other than driving, drivers can easily miss cues they would have noticed if they were focused on driving. Many at-fault drivers who survived distracted driving accidents say they never saw the vehicles or pedestrians they hit.

Smartphone Apps Provide Safe Driving Solutions

Smartphones catch a lot of the blame for distracted driving, but they can actually help put the brakes on it as well. All modern smartphones allow the user to turn off texts and notifications by turning on flight mode, and most feature a special driving mode with oversized icons and simplified menus. There are even apps that disable calls, texts and notifications automatically when the car is moving. These apps calculate the vehicle’s speed using GPS data. Some even send alerts to parents when the vehicle exceeds the speed limit or engages in risky behavior like hard braking. These apps vary by smartphone platform, so check your device’s app store for specific apps.

Distracted driving deaths and injuries have been falling on average over the last few years thanks to legislation and education efforts, but there is still a long way to go. So far we’ve only looked at distracted driving by the general public. Next week we’ll look at commercial drivers.

Sources:

https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/2015TeenCrashCausationFS_0.pdf