But while texting is indeed worse than conversing while driving, it is not by much. Some researchers—using real cars, not simulators—found that hands-free phone calls are similarly distracting as conversations with another person in the car.
We may recognize on a cognitive level that distracted driving is stupid, but we have no accompanying visceral feeling of fear, no associated emotion to guide our decision-making in the moment of temptation. If our hearts started racing as soon as our attention started to drift, we might be more inclined to stay focused.
Furthermore, we feel immune to the risks that affect other people. Consistent with this, three out of four people think they are above average drivers a statistical impossibility. We are simply overconfident in our abilities. Finally, many of us have a lot of experience making bad driving decisions and not suffering any consequences. We imagine that the past will predict the future and ignore the actual risk.
Watch the most gruesome car accident video you can find on YouTube and play it in your head every time you think of reaching for the phone. Or to have a conversation. Or to get distracted in any other way. The real reason to stay on task while driving is to protect your most precious, most limited resource: attention. Aline Holzwarth is an applied behavioral scientist, specializing in digital health research and scientifically informed product design.
Phone Calls Are Worse Than No Calls and Just as Bad as Drunk Driving A study using a driving simulator found that participants who engaged in hands-free phone conversations took longer to react to a car slowing down ahead of them compared to those who drove without conversation.
Popular on Behavioral Scientist. By Anupriya Kukreja. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Transportation Safety. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Distracted Driving. Minus Related Pages. On This Page. Types of Distraction How big is the problem? Who is most at risk for distracted driving? Types of Distraction. There are three main types of distraction: Visual: taking your eyes off the road Manual: taking your hands off the wheel Cognitive: taking your mind off driving 2.
In the U. Young adult and teen drivers In the U. Among these drivers, eight percent of drivers aged 15 to 19 were distracted at the time of the crash. They were: more likely to not always wear a seat belt; more likely to ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol; and more likely to drive after drinking alcohol.
How to Prevent Distracted Driving. What drivers can do Do not multitask while driving. You can use apps external icon to help you avoid cell phone use while driving.
Consider trying an app to reduce distractions while driving. She was uninjured but horribly shaken. Potential amount of crashes in the U. Yet many people continue the practice. That risk translates into accidents. The same study concludes that 4 million of the 11 million crashes that occur in the U. All of these perfectly legal activities have caused accidents—take extra caution. Source: IIHS. Q: Reaching for, answering, or dialing a cell phone increases the risk of a crash or near crash by how much?
Q: Which passengers cause teens to exhibit the riskiest behaviors? Family, friends, or no passengers? How Did We Get Here? Concerns over distracted driving go all the way back to the s and the early days of car radios. Soon after their debut, radios became the focus of a public safety outcry, by lawmakers who worried about their potential to preoccupy drivers. That may have been a losing battle, but in later decades, public safety advocates turned their attentions to other more treacherous safety issues—like drunk driving and forgoing seatbelts.
Citizens rallied together, companies rolled out massive public safety campaigns, and lawmakers acted. The effort helped: Traffic fatalities related to those two risky driving behaviors dropped though, together, they still accounted for more than 20, fatalities in , reports NHTSA.
The memorable slogans? The billboards on every highway? But experts agree that too many drivers keep texting and giving in to other distractions. For more information on state laws, visit the Governors Highway Safety Association. The Dangers of Distracted Driving pdf. What can you do? Virgin Islands, and Guam have banned drivers from hand-held phone use while driving.
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