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Editorial
New technologies offer new ways to distract drivers
Friday, October 23, 2015
"Shut up and drive," reads the old bumper sticker, when people used to put them on their cars instead of posting their ideas to Facebook.
It's good advice and the Legislature got into the act, outlawing texting while driving for everyone and any cell phone use for drivers on learner permits and intermediate drivers licenses.
That might not go far enough, according to new research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
"The lasting effects of mental distraction pose a hidden and pervasive danger that would likely come as a surpirse to most drivers," said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "The results indicate that motorists could miss stop signs, pedestrians and other vehicles while the mind is readjusting to the task of driving."
Driving only 25 mph, you could travel as far as three football fields without complete concentration, 27 seconds, after completing a distracting task, according to the study.
This was while using new hands-free systems that are legal to use while driving.
Researchers compared new hands-free technologies in 10 2015 vehicles and three types of smart phones. They found that the systems studies increased mental distraction to potentially unsafe levels.
Previous studies established different levels of distration: Listening to the radio or an audio book as category 1, talking on the phone category 2, sending voice-activated text on a perfect, error-free system category 3, updating social media while driving category 4 and completing a highly-challenging scientific test designed to overload a driver's attention a category 5.
Although drivers can get better with practice, the tasks were still distracting, according to Amy Stracke, managing directory of traffic safety advocacy for AAA.
Don't assume that rural Nebraska's roads make distracted driving safer; blind intersections, cows, deer and other distracted drivers offer just as many hazards as city driving.
Especially now as winter driving conditions approach, the old advice, "shut up and drive," is just as valid.
Check out the study, with tests and ranking of hands-free systems at AAA's website, here: http://bit.ly/1MabIgf