Inside The Car, Inside Your Mind

from the not-so-simple dept

Mon, Jun 30th 2003 2:30am — Mike Masnick

With all the stories and arguments out there over whether or not using a mobile phone while driving causes driver distraction, here are some results from a fascinating study that suggests it's not talking on the phone itself that causes the distraction, but it's often what you're talking about. If it's just a quick call to say you're on your way, or to discuss something simple, it doesn't seem to have much of an impact. In fact, the study found that things going on in your mind can have a much bigger impact on how you drive. So, people who are driving long, familiar routes may "tune out" and start focusing on something else, making them much more distracted than if they were on a mobile phone. If they were on a mobile phone, they might even pay more attention to the road, to make sure they're doing okay. So, the simple concept of banning all mobile phones while driving doesn't take into account any of these factors, and could cause just as many problems as it solves.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

3 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Derek Kerton (profile), 30 Jun 2003 @ 2:30am

Headsets and Ditches
Once they pass all these headset laws, just wait for the (easily) predictable result: dozens of car crashes where the driver was distracted by the act of digging his headset out of a glove box or briefcase.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TM, 30 Jun 2003 @ 9:33am

Driven to Distraction
This is exactly why the simplistic "slower is safer" paradigm is wrong. One of the most effective ways to maintain focus when driving is to pick up the pace a little. That helps you engage fully in the task of driving. If you focus on driving safely, smoothly, and swiftly (the three are complimentary), and on doing what you can to smooth and maintain the traffic flow, your mind won't wander and everyone will be better off.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2003 @ 10:45am

Overhype/Overcomplicate
Do you own survey: Count the number of times someone drifts into your lane, is clearly driving slower than traffic, etc. Exclude the data gathered from busy areas on Friday or Saturday nights (demon rum!)...

From my own informal surveys, a VERY high percentage of the cars behaving in such a way as to cause an issue for surrounding traffice involve a driver on the phone...
[ link to this | view in thread ]