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SAFE DRIVING TIPS
It's the thought that counts
Keeping your mind on driving will reduce distraction
By Richard Russell
Thursday, August 28, 2003
All the talk about cell phone use in vehicles has certainly had a positive outcome in one respect. Both the quantity and quality of research into driving habits have risen sharply. As a result we know beyond a doubt that driver distraction is reaching worrisome levels.
Driving is a visual task, but processing and analyzing information taken in through our eyes is done by our brain. Some of the most recent research shows that undertaking complex mental tasks while at the wheel can reduce a driver's ability to detect visual targets by as much as 30 per cent. Notice we said complex mental task. That does not mean pressing several digits on a phone; it means processing and being involved in conversations. Mental activity interferes with the capacity to detect visual activity - the brain is engaged in one activity when it should be doing another.
We have all heard the statements "I didn't expect it" and "I didn't see it in time" as excuses following a crash. It all comes down to the difference between seeing and looking. Or as researchers at the University of Spain put it, "It is easy to understand how a driver cannot see because he is not looking. But it is not as easy to explain how they look, but do not see."
A fully alert driver will actively scan the surrounding driving environment every few seconds. This constant movement of the eyes around a full 360-degree circle, using all three mirrors, is held out as the perfect way to stay aware of the traffic scene and identify problems before they develop. That's the perfect world - one we live in when taking a driving test. But the remainder of the time our mind is actively processing a number of issues, hopefully returning to the job at hand with sufficient frequency to keep us alive. The problem is that while our mind is processing other issues, our eyes might be looking around, but the link between them and the brain is shut down. We might be looking but we aren't seeing. What is more disturbing is that research also shows that other distractions have a similar ability to break the connection between the eye and brain. The most common of these other issues are audible distractions, especially when they require thought or even worse, response. There is a distinct difference, for example, between listening to a favourite tune and trying to glean or memorize the words of a new one. There is a difference between relaxing instrumental background music and becoming involved in a debate on the radio.
Cell phones have garnered a great deal of attention, and rightfully so. But they are only part of the problem as some new research indicates engaging in a conversation with a passenger can be just as distracting as listening to someone on the phone. The issue is how much the driver has to become involved in the conversation, how much they have to process it and generate a response. Retrieving voicemail might create fewer problems than trying to process a response. A driver using a hands-free, voice-activated cell phone might be more at risk than one using a conventional phone if he or she is involved in a two-way conversation.
It is easy to see the results of conversation on driving activity. How many times have you approached a vehicle and as you are about to overtake, it speeds up. My personal observation of why this occurs is that your approach has caused the other driver to stop thinking, talking and/or listening and get his or her mind back on the job at hand. Generally speaking, the average motorist will slow down when distracted.
The bottom line is that mentally distracted drivers know how to drive; they just don't see things soon enough or well enough to use their skills.
Halifax-based Richard Russell operates the Advanced Driving Concepts driving school and is a driver training instructor for the American Automobile Association.
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