Driving While Distracted

Is driving while texting dangerous? I think nearly everyone (with the exception of a few naïve teenagers) know that it is. But what about just talking on a cell phone? Is that dangerous? Researchers have found that talking or texting is much more dangerous than many of us might even imagine.

Recently the Center for Auto Safety released hundreds of pages of research on the impact of cell phone use on America’s highways. Much of the research was done years ago when fewer cell phone users were texting. Essentially the problem has grown worse as texting as increased.

So far 17 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws banning texting while driving. Seven states outlaw drivers from using hand-held communication devices of any kind. This month, the Transportation Secretary is holding a summit to discuss the dangers of driving while distracted.

It turns out that some drivers multitask better than others. One psychology professor studying the effect of driving and cell phone use has concluded that only two percent of drivers are able to safely multitask while driving. In other words, most people are dangerous when they try to do so.

Nearly all users (the other 98 percent) are less influenced by peripheral vision when we talk on cell phones. We also react slower to visual cues even in front of us. Apparently our brains direct attention to the sounds we hear on the cell phone, and that causes the visual capacity of our brains decrease.

We have all probably heard that talking or texting while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk. It turns out it is more dangerous. Participants in one simulator study were faster to brake and caused fewer accidents when they had a .08% blood-alcohol content than while sober and talking on a cell phone.

Some have criticized the simulator study because it is not a real-world test, but I am not ready to test this out on our nation’s highways. We already know the dangers of driving while distracted. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.