In the article, Cell Phones Induced Driver Distraction, scientists, David Strayer and Frank Drews, discussed multiple studies they conducted to explore the relationship between cell phone conversations and driving. Their studies explored the hypothesis that “cell- phone conversations impair driving by inducing a form of inattention blindness in which drivers fail to see objects in their driving environment when they are talking on a cell phone” (Strayer & Drews, 2007). The studies explored different aspects of driver distractions such as; recognition of objects, relevance of objects, reaction times, and comparison of two different talking related tasks.
Each study used a driving simulation to imitate a real-life driving experience. Each study
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The participants had to rate the importance (from 1-10) of different objects they saw while driving and while driving and talking on the phone. As a result, the scientists discovered that there is no relationship between recognition and traffic relevance, meaning that while performing both single and dual tasks, the participants were still able to recognize the importance of low and high level relevant information. The level of relevance of each object did not affect the participants’ recognition after the study was …show more content…
In the first test, the participant drove in the simulation while talking to a friend in the passenger seat and the second test, the driver talked on the phone. In both tests, the driver had to navigate to a rest area. About 88% of the drivers completed the task successfully navigating to the rest stop while talking to the passenger, whereas only 50% of the drivers who were talking on the phone were able to navigate to complete the task successfully. This explains that cell phone conversations are more distracting than conversations with a passenger in the
The several effects of distracted driving are deadly. Andrew Lavallee points out that “texting while driving is unsafe. Not only are a driver’s eyes off the road, one or both hands are off the wheel.” “We think it is incompatible with safe driving” (qtd. in Lavallee). “Study upon study showed that talking on a cellphone was far more dangerous than she’d realized – that a driver on a phone had the same reaction speed as someone legally intoxicated, that those talking on a phone behind the wheel are four times as likely to crash” (qtd. in Hanes). Stephanie Hanes also mentions that, “Unlike a conversation with a passenger, the electronic conversation takes a driver into a virtual space away from the road.” Subsequently, this causes severe problems and deadly
The Harvard Center of Risk Analysis preformed a study, they studied the road and people who text while they drive. Results show that texting behind the wheel causes 330,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths a year. People who talk or text on the phone are just as impaired or even more impaired as a drunk driver. A study was performed at the University of Utah, it shows that the participants crashed when they were texting while driving but when they were intoxicated, they did not crash. This shows that texting while driving takes your focus off of the road and into the conversation you are having on the phone. Also, the University of Utah has proven that hand free devices do not make driving any safer. But, driving with passengers and talking to them makes drivers safer. Passengers help inform drivers of possible risks on the
The article “How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You’re Not Using It” reports the experiment and findings about how cell phones in sight not only effect your relationships, but also your ability to complete motor tasks. In this study, three groups were present and they differed from one group only being able to see their group leaders cell phone, while the other group had sighting of their own cell phones and the last one had no visible cell phone. The first two groups suffered from completing the complex tasks, but the group with no cell phone differed from having a harder time completing the tasks. Like “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves” both articles address how cell phones can be distracting when driving. From the article, “How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You’re Not Using It” Thornton, a professor from the University of Southern Maine states, “You could probably text and drive somewhat safely if you’re on a straight road, and there’s no traffic, and you take your time.” Although it is stated that it could be some what possible, those occasions are rare when it comes to the driving conditions. Not only do cell phones affect driving, but a common theme brought out in many of the articles is how they effect interpersonal relationships. This article talks about how they play a role in our social communication, just like all the
Another negative effect that mobile phones impair is mental focus while driving. People who are driving have their minds on the task in front of them with their full attention on the road. So when a person is conversing on a phone their attention is split as he or she is trying to multi-task both talking and driving at the same time. An article written by Nathan Seppa, the cause of “split attention”, he noted that David Strayer a psychology professor and his team studied to understand what impairs drivers when they talk on the phone. They conducted an experiment with drivers to see the effects of how varies distractions compare to each other. Strayer’s team accompanied drivers and assign them different distractive tasks while they maintain their eyes on the road in order to assess the effects. In the team’s findings they found that one most distracting tasks was talking on a mobile phone, which caused a driver’s performance to decline significantly. The typical tasks that drivers should perform on a regular basis, such as observing traffic changes, looking in rear-view mirrors, and watching for pedestrians was reduced overall (Seppa). Not many people can multi-task a conversation and driving at the same time without some drawbacks. Another drawback to a person focus was “unintentional blindness”, described by Simons, as “looking at something and not seeing it” (Seppa). So a person who is talking on a phone can end up not seeing an object whether it is a car, a stop sign or a pedestrian that is right in front of him and her. Many experiments were conducted by professionals to understand how “unintentional blindness” can affect a person’s perception, but one notable professional, Simmons, conducted a test of this concept:
Traumatic experiences shape the lives of people and changes their outlook on certain actions. Oftentimes people never realize the dangers something can cause until it negatively impacts them. An important way to stop this from happening is to spread awareness about the dangers of certain actions. Loren Vaillancourt suffered from the loss of her brother due to distracted driving. Ever since the death of her brother she has tried to spread the message about the dangers of distracted driving. She came to prominence in 2010 by winning Miss South Dakota. She used her title as a way to bring awareness to the topic of distracted driving.
Several individuals need to be constantly sending messages to their friends and family members with the use of a cellphone while driving. More and more drivers have the urge to use their cell phones while driving. This dangerous mixture can result to be even deadly. “As one researcher concluded, a cellphone draws attention away from the routines that would provide a good representation of the driving environment” (qtd. in Seppa 3).
This paper examines the dangers that arise when cell phones are used at the same time as operating a vehicle. The paper will explore the following question of why this is a problem and why the research is important. The variables investigated are the use of cell phones while driving, whether speaking or texting, and the accidents and fatalities caused from the distraction. Data of the accidents and fatalities caused by drivers distracted by their cells phones is stated to research and further explores the age group and gender of the people involved into the accidents to uncover patterns. Possible outcomes of the implementation of laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving are discussed as well as the sampling measures used to survey and research the variables.
Over the past two decades the use of cell phones has grown significantly and statistic from the past two years have proven that driving while on the phone or texting is becoming one of the leading causes of traffic accidents today. In 2011, a survey of more than 2800 American adults revealed that even thought they know that using a cell phone or texting while driving is distracting, they do it anyway, and teens surveyed admit that texting while driving is their number one distraction. "Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% ...
Research has proven that it is difficult to concentrate on driving and talking at the same time. A recent British study showed that talking on a mobile phone while driving was more hazardous than operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Tests conducted by scientists for UK-based insurance firm, Direct Line, involved 20 subjects using a driving simulator to test reaction times and driving performance and compared this to when drivers had too much to drink. The results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk - and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. The tests also showed that drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front.
A. People are constantly fixated on their phones, checking Twitter, Facebook, and text messages. The use of a cell phones while driving is extremely distracting and dangerous to the person behind the wheel, and everyone else on the road as well.
Strayer, D. L. & Johnston, W. A. (2001) Driven to distraction: Dual task studies of simulated driving and conversing on a cellular phone. Psychological Science, 12, 462-466
According to The National Safety Council (NSC) using cell phones when driving will cause about 1.6 million crashes per year, and from those crashed about 330,000 injuries from distracted drivers (Texting and Driving Accident Statistics, n.d.). Teens and adults have started using their cell phones more and more. Cell phones are a great piece of technology, but the longer we have used them the more we have found that they can cause many negative things. Cell phones don’t just answer calls and respond to texts, but they can cause us to lose social skills, can cause brain cancer, and it causes a lot of distracted drivers. To begin, cell phones cause us to lose social skills.
I, as a driver, too, think that cell phone use while driving is a distraction. Even though I personally don’t own a phone, I have used one. I noticed that talking on the cellular phone and driving doesn’t make it hard to focus on the road. But it is difficult and a major distraction to dial-up a number without losing focus on the road. Dialing a number is the main distraction about cel...
Over the last few decades, the use of cell phones has become a very common tool. Furthermore, Technology has certainly advanced, and the cell phone is becoming the most preferred mode of communication. The demand for a cell phone is growing every day. In addition, the use of wireless technology is affordable, and anyone can buy a cell phone at a reasonable price. They come in all shapes and sizes. They range from black to bright metallic white. American public use of cell phones is increasing everyday. As the number of people using cell phones increase, the use of cell phones while driving will also increase on our streets and highways. At the same rate, motorists still converse on cell phones and write text messages while driving. Motorist will also engage in other activities apart from driving. For example, drivers will text when driving, and they will dial numbers. Drivers will receive calls and converse with the recipient for long periods. Again, driving demands your full attention, and your concentration needed when talking on the phone. However, it means that the driver has to divert his attention to the conversation, which leads to less concentration on the road. On the contrary, one can therefore connect motorist’s accidents and cell phone usage while driving.
Studies have shown that while talking to someone on the phone, your brain is putting a lot of its energy into the conversation, it means that less of your mind on driving the car. That could also mean a conversation with someone in the car is dangerous, how uncomfortable the hands-free earpieces are to wear and the annoyance of static or wind and you have a worse