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I'm Deborah, survivor of everything from multiple cancer battles to major business setbacks. Join my search for ways to move the mountains, big & small, that block your path to success.
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Avoid death by distraction

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Traffic on the four-lane was bumper-to-bumper, but still moving at a swift 50 mph with no stop lights ahead. Always in a hurry, I was in the left lane, the faster of the two heading west. A bumper sticker on the car to my right caught my eye:

 

This Is a Really Stupid Bumper Sticker

But You’re Still Squinting to Re …

 

HOLY COW!! I glanced up to see traffic had come to an unexpected stop. Standing on the brake, I whipped the steering wheel to the left, just missing the back corner of the car ahead as I steered into the narrow median. Caught off-guard by my sudden maneuver, the next two cars behind me also ended up in the grass.

Thankfully, I was maintaining a safe distance from the car ahead and had looked up in the nick of time. Otherwise there would have been a multicar pileup at rush hour … because of a “really stupid bumper sticker.”

I’ve never forgotten that experience because it illustrates how a second’s distraction can have disastrous results. Half a mile further, the median disappears. My choices would have been to slam into a non-moving vehicle at 50 mph—perhaps one with children in the back seat—or veer into oncoming traffic.

And the experience illustrates that people don’t have to be using cell phones to be distracted behind the wheel. Perhaps that’s why a study released earlier this year by the U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute—an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety—reported unexpected findings in four states banning handheld phones: Those states have experienced no accident reductions.

Huh?

But haven’t previous studies found a definite link between accidents and cell phone use? Yep. Do we know people are abiding by the ban? Yep, the researchers have data to show the ban has significantly reduced the use of handheld phones in those states.

Hmm … we know cell phone use increases accidents … and we know fewer people are using handheld devices … yet the number of accidents has remained constant. What does it mean?

It means accidents aren’t caused by people holding phones. They’re caused by people engaging their brains in activities other than driving.

Truth

 Driving may seem easy, but because everything is moving at high speed, our brains are required to process tremendous amounts of visual input in rapid-fire succession—while simultaneously coordinating the movements of our hands and feet. According to Marcel Just, that’s why people learning to drive tend to turn off the radio and tell others to be quiet. The Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist explained to National Public Radio that learners must focus their full attention on this sensory-intensive task. But as people gain experience, driving becomes more automatic—which is how we can suddenly realize we’ve traveled several miles but have little memory of the trip. Scientists call this “automaticity.” It’s the brain’s way of letting us do one thing while we’re thinking about another.

 Research shows one limitation of the human brain is that it has difficulty processing sights and sounds simultaneously. So the brain finds it challenging to focus on the visual signals necessary for safe driving while also concentrating on a conversation, regardless of whether the phone is hands-free. And of course, it’s impossible to focus on visual signals if you’re checking your makeup in the rearview, composing a text message … or reading a bumper sticker on the car in the next lane.

Consequences

So is it really that big a deal if you become briefly distracted by a conversation or glance away from the road every few seconds to engage in another activity? What harm can you do because of a second’s distraction?

April 22, 2010 … On-board surveillance video shows sleep-deprived schoolbus driver Frederick Poust III ran 10 stop signs prior to causing an accident that killed one person. He was charged with homicide by vehicle and 46 counts of recklessly endangering other lives. A decade ago, Poust was cited in an accident that killed a two-year-old girl—and touched off a national debate about motorists using cell phones while driving.

April 30, 2010 … About 650,000 British motorists have had car accidents due to distractions caused by swatting at insects inside their vehicles. The cost of swatting accidents: about $69 million (£44 million) a year.

May 1, 2010 … Deborah Matis-Engle, 49, was sentenced to jail for causing a crash that killed another driver. Matis-Engle was paying her bills via texting with her cell phone while driving and failed to see the cars in front of her had stopped because of a construction zone.

May 7, 2010 … The RCMP are investigating whether the driver who caused a fatal four-vehicle pileup that closed the Alex Fraser Bridge in Metro Vancouver for eight hours was distracted because he was on his cell phone.

June 3, 2010 … A motorist speeding and reaching for her cell phone rear-ended a vehicle stopped at a Columbia Heights intersection, setting off a chain reaction that killed a 14-month-old boy.

June 24, 2010 … Lora Hunt, 49, of Morris, IL, was convicted of reckless homicide for killing 56-year-old Anita Zaffke in a car accident. Hunt was painting her nails while driving.

 




2 Responses
  • Sharon Yarbrough:

    Great article Deborah!!! I think we have all had “near misses” while being distracted at the wheel…and I know that so many times I pull into my driveway and honestly do not even remember the drive home, so I totally get the “automatic” thing…

    Keep up the writing, your insights are often educational, some are pretty funny, and then some just make us “think” for a minute…..I enjoy them all and look forward to new ones everyday…

  • Deborah:

    Thank you so much! I’m usually researching and writing about things I’m trying to learn. It’s rare for me to do anything other than listen to the radio when I’m driving–but once I was so caught up in singing along that I drove past my turnoff and wound going up miles out of my way!

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