Cognitive Factors In Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is the leading cause of car accidents in America, followed by speeding, then drunk driving. A study performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTAS) found that 80% of car crashes were a direct result of distracted driving. There are three types of distractions for drivers: visual, cognitive, and manual. Cell phone usage whilst driving meets all three criteria for a distracted driver. When a person is using a phone they will take their eyes away from the road to look at the device (visual), they will think about the content of what they are looking at and take their mind off of the road (cognitive), and they will also take their hands off of the wheel to use the device (manual). There are many other reasons that can be attributed to distracted driving, like applying make-up or loud passengers in the car, but cell phone usage is becoming a rapidly growing concern, especially with younger drivers. The NHTAS identified that drivers under the age of 20 make up the highest proportion of distracted drivers that were involved in fatal crashes.

Laws should be created and enforced for people who are texting while driving because it increases death rates, accidents, and more money will be paid to repair the car. Distracted drivers could be driving while eating, talking to passengers, or using the GPS. However, texting while driving is considered to be the most hazardous act. When people use their phones while driving they are putting their life and the people around them at risk. According to statistics compiled by the Department of Transportation in 2018, 3,477 people died and another 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes caused by drivers who were distracted because they were texting or using cell phones.

One sunny day on a Houston road, the driver of a pickup truck collided with a church minibus. 13 people died, and the driver admitted he was texting and driving. Yet this happens very often. Over 330,000 car accidents happened from texting while driving in 2015. Distracted driving is very risky, because attention is drawn away from the road,

The use of pulling a phone out while driving , particularly for texting and during phone to ear conversations , cause visual , manual and cognitive distraction (Thompson 4 ). When drivers pull out their phones they are taking more than 50% of their attention away from the roads, for example some

Distracted driving in America is not a trivial issue in today's society. On average, eight people are killed and one thousand one hundred sixty one people are injured due to accidents involving distracted drivers, particularly due to texting. Distracted driving is a huge issue in our society. The risks are great and lead to unfathomable results. Distracted driving has also taken such a big toll on our Nation, that laws have been put in place in hopes of preventing distracted driving.

“Distracted driving refers to any nondriving activity that takes motorists ' attention away from the safe operation of their vehicles” (Leone). Every time a driver gets in a vehicle and decides to use a cell phone to have a conversation, either talking or texting, they put themselves and others lives in danger. The convenience a cell phone and the capabilities they offer have made them a substantial distraction and a cause of significant source of vehicle accidents and fatalities. There are three different types of distractions: visual, manual and cognitive. Cell phone use is the most dangerous distraction because it involves all three different types of distraction and plays a part in the increasing issue of distracted driving. Even

1). Texting and using a cell phone are the two most common distractions while driving (“Distracted” para. 1). It Can Wait campaign has started to stop drivers from using handheld devices (“Distracted” para. 3). Distractions affect one’s driving performance (“Distracted” para. 5). Drivers are distracted around half the time they drive (“Distracted” para. 5).15% to 25% of crashes on all levels are caused by distraction (“Distracted” para. 5). Texting increases the driving risk, even more than regular cell phone use (“Distracted” para. 5). When cops fill out crash reports, the states should keep track of them (“Distracted” para. 6). There are many distraction while driving that may cause the driver to take focus off the road (“Distracted” para. 8). Some distraction that everyone does is : changing the radio or a CD, talking to passenger, and observing the event outside the vehicle (Distracted para. 8). There are effects on telematics on driving behaviors (“Distracted” para. 9). Some say that the electronic device companies need to inform the public about the real use of these devices (“Distracted” para.

Within all age groups the number on record for the year of 2009 for people killed in car accidents caused by distracted driving was 5,474 and the amount of people injured was 448,000. (“Driving Distracted”) Drivers don’t understand why the number raises so much by just being distracted but studies show that operating a hand held device when driving makes you four times more likely to be in a car accident that will be serious or be fatal. (“Driving Distracted”)

In a society where everybody uses a cell phone day and night; distracted driving is becoming an increasingly prominent problem. Affecting teens and adults, distracted driving lowers everybody’s ability to drive significantly. Surprisingly, teens are affected the most compared to the rest of society through a shorter attention span and an emotional attachment to their phones. Although many believe that there has been technology to aid teen drivers in avoiding phone usage while driving, this technology doesn’t allow the many distractions of a phones, eating, and utilizing hands free devices in the car to dissipate.

Distracted driving, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include things like talking on your cell phone, texting, emailing and even eating (“Distracted Driving.”). Being distracted for even a few seconds can be deadly. Every day over 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in accidents associated with distracted drivers, according to the CDC (“Distracted Driving.”). This heartbreaking statistic could be reduced if States would do more to prevent distracted driving. Florida recently took action and banned texting and driving. This law, however, is not enough to reduce the tragedies caused by distracted driving.

On March 29, 2017 Jack Dillon Young was driving down a narrow Texas road and made of the most irresponsible choice a driver could make…texting and driving. His decision to drive while distracted lead to the death of 13 people traveling back from a choir retreat (De Brujin 2017). Looking from a historical perspective electronics in general have always created a cause for concern when behind the wheel. Since the initial days of in-car radios, 8-tracks, cassette players and CD’s, technology has been seen as an opportunity to distract the driver. As electronics evolved to more sophisticated, portable and interactive engineering—such as the Ipod or smartphone—we began to realize a greater demand of attention was required from drivers visually, manually and cognitively.

“A distracted driver may fail to see up to 50% of the available information in the driving environment. You may look but not actually “see” what is happening. Focus of the driver is not on the road or traffic and it becomes difficult to handle phone and vehicle at one time. Cell phones during driving also reduce the mental capacity of drivers as they fail to concentrate on minor or major activities happening around them. Cell phones distract drivers' attention resulting in comparatively slow response to traffic signals and other related traffic events. Studies have shown the fact that breaking reaction time is also slower while talking on a cell phone during driving. The perception, vision, general awareness, and concentration of the driver are impacted while communicating on a cell phone during driving. Especially during bad weather or driving on slippery roads, drivers engaging in conversation pay less attention to these areas increasing risks of fatal accidents.

Studies conducted from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that using a cell phone while driving significantly impairs a driver’s reaction time and triples the risk of being involved in a crash or near-crash, and text messaging increases crash risk by a multiple of 8 for all ages (NHTSA, 2009). Situational awareness is significantly decreased while engaging in distracted driving, and in turn inattention blindness is increased drastically creating a potentially deadly situation on the roads. A driver who is multitasking has less brain function available and thus literally fails to see or pay attention to things that are squarely in the field of vision (Texting and Driving, 2010). On the other hand there are those that may be able to multitask successfully though the challenge is

In the 21st century, technological advancements have had a profound impact on almost every aspect of people’s lives, especially in regard to the use of mobile phones. A sophisticated understanding of just how the use of cellular devices interfere with our cognitive process is an enduring interest due to its pertinence in modern society. According to research conducted by Redelmeier and Tibshirani, (1997) drivers who talk on their mobile phone are four times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who do not engage in cellular conversation. Statistics have also shown that an estimated 330,000 injuries caused by driving and 2600 fatalities of the annual car accidents can be attributed to the use of cell phones (Cohen & Graham, 2003). In this essay, the impact that mobile phones have on cognitive processes crucial to satisfactory driving capabilities will be explored, and it will be essentially argued that the interference that mobile phones have on the cognitive process necessary for driving effectively is detrimental. The empirical evidence from two studies will be used to support my thesis in which the driving ability of participants are tested in conjunction with mobile phone use. The first is Strayer and Drews’ (2006) study which compares the cell phone using driver to the drunk driver, essentially confirming a direct correlation between the two and thus supporting my thesis. The second study conducted by Kristen E. Beede and Steven J. Kass (2005) examined the

Cell phones impair a driver’s attention (Strayer et al., 2003). Strayer et al., (2003) a driving stimulator to measure forty participants braking response times. Of the forty participants, 83% reported to using a cellphone while driving (Strayer et al., 2003). In this experiment a dual-task of having the participant talk to a confederate on a topic of interest (Strayer et al., 2003). The four dependent measures used in this experiment were brake-onset time, brake-offset time, following distance and minimum speed (Strayer et al., 2003). The results in a MANOVA showed that the dual-task of talking on a cell phone had a slower time than the single-task baseline (Strayer et al., 2003). In addition, as traffic density increased the impairment of using a hands-free phone also increased (Strayer et al., 2003). Strayer et al., (2003) also found that when drivers are talking on the phone they are more likely to have rear-ended collisions, miss traffic signals and respond slower. When drivers are on the phone having a conversation, they are not focusing on the road and therefore have a slower reaction time compared to average drivers (Strayer et al., 2003). Strayer et al., (2003) measured braking response time, vehicle speed, following distance and accidents increased while braking response time slowed down (Strayer et al., 2003).