Getting Distraught with Distraction

As per a research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of USA, an estimated 25 % of 6.3 million automobile crashes reported each year involve some form of driver distractions.

Distraction could come about in many ways. Engaging in serious dialogue with fellow passengers, reading, listening to music and radio, speaking on the cell phone, sending SMS,watching movie or video eating and drinking, indulging in romantic pursuits, kissing or hugging and getting preoccupied with serious thoughts will end up in distracting one’s attention from driving. Wordy duels, gestures, and swearing also can distract the driver.

Research undertaken over many years confirms that however well educated and trained, human beings are prone to make mistakes when at the controls of a vehicle. The mistake could be intentional or unintentional. An intentional mistake can non adherence to speed restriction and no respect to signal lights. A non-intentional mistake may arise from losing control of vehicle on a slippery road stretch or any other hazardous condition on the road or owing to a sudden distraction.

When there is sizeable traffic on the road, the lanes are packed, the movement is bumper to bumper, or when travelling at high speeds, when pedestrians are crossing, when the visibility is poor, when there is rush, when one is driving around a corner, during peak hours and late hours there is always a possibility for drivers to make mistakes.

Suspecting the need for correct air pressure in the wheels, the constant consciousness to maintain appropriate speed, the need to drive without swaying from the designated lane, the passing by of an errant motorist, the extra chillness in the air or heat are all a source of distraction, the slow moving traffic and traffic hold ups can all create stress and distraction. Digital dashboards, Internet on the dashboard screen, and even GPRS are all a source of distraction.

The scientific literature is mixed on the dangers of talking on a cell phone versus those of talking with a passenger. The common conception is that passengers are able to better regulate conversation based on the perceived level of danger, therefore the risk is negligible.

A study by a University of South Carolina psychology researcher featured in the journal, Experimental Psychology, found that planning to speak and speaking put far more demands on the brain’s resources than listening. Measurement of attention levels showed that subjects were four times more distracted while preparing to speak or speaking than when they were listening.

The Accident Research Unit at the University of Nottingham found that the number of utterances was usually higher for mobile calls when compared to blindfolded and non-blindfolded passengers across various driving conditions. The number of questions asked averaged slightly higher for mobile phone conversations, although results were not constant across road types and largely influenced by a large number of questions on the urban roads.

A 2004 University of Utah simulation study that compared passenger and cell-phone conversations concluded that the driver performs better when conversing with a passenger because the traffic and driving task become part of the conversation. Drivers holding conversations on cell phones were four times more likely to miss the highway exit than those with passengers, and drivers conversing with passengers showed no statistically significant difference from lone drivers in the simulator.

A study led by Andrew Parkes at the Transport Research Laboratory, also with a driving simulator, concluded that hands-free phone conversations impair driving performance more than other common in-vehicle distractions such as passenger conversations. In contrast, the University of Illinois meta-analysis concluded that passenger conversations were just as costly to driving performance as cell phone ones. AAA ranks passengers as the third most reported cause of distraction-related accidents at 11 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for cellular telephones.

A simulation study funded by the American Transportation Research Board concluded that driving events that require urgent responses may be influenced by in-vehicle conversations, and that there is little practical evidence that passengers adjusted their conversations to changes in the traffic. It concluded that drivers' training should address the hazards of both mobile phone and passenger conversations.