Summary Of Matt Richtel's A Deadly Wandering

Driving Us to Distraction Summary-Response Paper The essay, ‘Driving us to Distraction’ by Gilbert Cruz is about the dangers of hands-free technology while driving. The author argues that while driving and talking on a cell phone is deadly, using hands-free technology is not that much better of a choice. He supports his argument by citing a 2003 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that found cellphone use to be a serious hazard on the road and by mentioning a series of simulator tests conducted in 2007 by a psychology professor at the University of Utah named David Strayer.

“The reaction time of a distracted cell phone driver is more than 40% than those of an undistracted driver” (Hague).

There are both cognitive and physical factors that contribute to accidents when drivers talk on their cell phones and/or text behind the wheel. The primary cognitive factor is that an individual’s attention is divided when he or she is paying attention to more than one thing at a time (Goldstein, 2011). For example, a driver’s attention is on the road and perhaps how far the car ahead of him/her is, but at the same time is also trying to read a text message on a cellular device. This divided attention reduces the reaction speed and driving performance of the driver because there are not as many cognitive resources available to focus his/her attention on the most important thing: driving. When the driver is processing

Distracted driving poses an immense problem across the United States, and the issue only seems to continue growing. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed” in cases involving distracted driving, and of those killed, “teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes” (“Distracted Driving”, n.d.). These terrifying statistics cannot be ignored. Distracted driving is a national epidemic, and unless society addresses the problem properly and efficiently, the risky driving behavior will continue to plague our streets, endangering peoples’ lives and leading to more fatalities.

In the scholarly journal “Distracted Driving: Prevalence, Problems, and Prevention”, Tiffany Overton, who has an MA and MPH degree, wrote a research report with her colleagues that clearly stated the impact cell phones have on drivers and provided potential solutions to the issue. They begin their report with a short introduction that briefs the acknowledgment on the negative impacts of distracted driving. Continuing on, Overton and her associates outline the topics their research report covers in means of identifying distracted driving and ways to reduce the issue in the United States. They define distracted driving as “eating, applying makeup, reading, smoking, and talking” (Overton), however, “the most prominent activity fuelling research

In this article “Distracted Driving”, many distractions are mentioned other than just cell phone usage, such as changing the radio station or driving with kids in the back seat. It is stated that the dangers from distracted driving are because of the decrease in brain function and inability to pay full attention to the road. These practices lead to wrecks and in many cases death.

According to Ashley Gaddis from Counterpoint, “From 1999 to 2008, nearly fifty-two thousand people were killed in car crashes caused by distracted drivers” (n.pag.). Distracted driving started when technology became mobile and handheld. Many people have died and gotten injured from people not paying attention to the road. This problem has been growing as technology advances. Distracted driving is a big problem and there needs to be stronger penalties and laws in place to deter people from distracted driving.

In Canada there are several different ways civilians manage to harm themselves while driving vehicles. The occurrence of a vehicle disturbance not only causes harm to the drivers involved, but also puts the surrounding environment at further risk. Understanding the causes to distracted driving is crucial for the safety of Canadians, and can help prevent millions of dollars in damage. The invention of the car has increased in popularity within society, resulting in the creation of several different models of cars. Each new model has made attempts to address distracted driving. Through additional attention to case studies involving distracted driving, we can predict driving is caused from use of drugs and alcohol , use of technology/electronics,

There is a book that is written by M.T. Anderson and it’s called, “ The Feed” and I fell that this book is a small glimpse into the future of what our world could be if we don’t try and take control. In their world technology has gotten to a point to where they have a direct a link going right to their brain ( Anderson,Feed). Anything they want to know all they all they have to do is think about it. Everybody is falling for this “Feed” expect for one girl that will open the eyes to one body on what is truly going on. We notice in the book that there is mental and physically affect that this “Feed” has on everybody. Now even though they are blown out of proportion, I find it interesting that we and those characters both share physical and mental side effects from a source of technology that is always trying to making easier for us. They use this technology in the book to advertise. I mean if you’re thinking about a certain kind of food you’re going to want it. Just like the feed we have left advancements in technology hinder our learning abilities. People in the book have a hard time talking in the form of a complete sentence; they never have to learn they only had to search, and brain just remains in limbo that way. I can say that my spelling and grammar is hindered because all I have to do is right click the green or red underline world and look for my options. I don’t have to think about numbers and how they form the answers in math as long as I have my calculator. They were meant to assist but we use them as a crutch, and we need to be

These tasks require mind-off-the-road. Researcher Green found out that the tasks which are not visually demanding like day dreaming or listening to a long speech in phone could increase the probability of crashes. Two different conditions and a control condition were compared with 24 participants actively participating in it [5].

As he proceeded through the course his mind began to wonder as he focused on fulfilling his task. His driving began to worsen, and he tipped over cones as a result of this. The point of the exercise was to demonstrate that the brain when forced to multitask can’t fully concentrate on each individual task. The policemen who gave licenses to individuals, was affected by this experiment, imagine the normal person’s response when presented this task.

It is evident that society is becoming fast paced; this change is growing exponentially. With advanced technologies added daily and the desire and need to rush for everyday life, it becomes easy to be complacent in how one completes these daily tasks. Among all the many outlets of communication and self satisfaction, meaning anything from adjusting music to finishing a donut, distracted driving is prevalently used. Distracted driving is any form of not having full attention on the road while operating a vehicle. Statistics show that the majority of the population is a partaker in driving distracted, but adolescents and young adults take the trophy.

“ Distracted driving kills” ( Distracted driving7). Distracted driving affects people of all ages but, “ our youngest and most inexperienced drivers are most at risk” ( Distracted driving7). This happens as soon as a person enters their vehicle and start to drive. Their eyes begin to go off the road which soon causes a head to head collision. Later on as technology improves and advances, cell phones have become the most common type of distracted driving such as eating or drinking or watching videos on their phone for an example, “ because text messaging requires visual, manual and conductive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarm distraction” (Distracted driving 5). This shows that many are risking their life and others around

Distracted driving is one of the fastest growing problems in the United States.   It is starting to be considered as serious as drunk driving based on the dangerous outcomes.  According to the Department of Transportation (2012), “distracted driving was a cause of roughly 450,000 accident-related injuries and nearly 5,500 fatalities in 2009 alone” (para. 1). Drivers who allow themselves to become distracted while driving are not only endangering themselves, but other innocent bystanders.

The distractions of driving are a popular area of research. Recent studies have looked at what distracts drivers and what other failures of awareness may contribute to traffic accidents. The goal of this paper is to look at research and explain how change blindness can possibly effect driving.