What
would you say if I told you that distractions
now join alcohol and speeding as leading
factors in fatal and serious
injury vehicle crashes, or that hands-free
cell phone devices offer no safety
benefit when driving? In addition,
what if I told you that “multi-tasking” is
a myth? A myth? Really? I know what
you’re thinking, you could see
the first two points as being possible,
but the third point just cannot be
right. On behalf of all multi-taskers,
that statement took me aback too, until
I read more on the topic
In
a report done by the National Safety
Council (4-21-2010), they state, and
I quote, “Human brains do
not perform two tasks at the same time.
Instead, the
brain handles tasks sequentially, switching
between one task and another. Brains can
juggle tasks very rapidly, which leads
us to erroneously believe we are doing
two tasks at the same time. In reality,
the brain is switching attention between
tasks – performing only one task
at a time.” “The brain also
juggles focus and attention”.
When
I read that last sentence, I picture
our brain in a game of ping-pong. Our
brains are ever changing our focus
back and forth while we are attempting
to multi-task. With that being the
case, just how focused are we really
while driving
Are
we talking on the phone, texting, or taking
a peek when
we hear the tone for incoming text? “But
I only text at the red lights or when stopped
by a train.” Oh, really? I would imagine
that your answer to that text would be coming
through right after the green light or the
RR crossing sticks pull up and you are on
your merry way. Can we really afford to put
our brains through all this while driving?
I not only think it unsafe, but irresponsible!
Even though “multi-tasking” is
highly valued in today’s culture, there
is no place for it while driving behind the
wheel, and unfortunately, we don’t
want to admit it. Instead, we think we can
handle our phones and drive at the same time.
The
report goes on to describe
how drivers
who use cell phones have
a tendency to “look
at” but not “see” up
to 50 percent of the information
in their driving environment.
This reminds me of when I
look down at my watch to
check out the time while
in a hurry and “look
at” the watch, but
don’t really “see” what
time it is. Is that just
me or do you do that to?
A form of inattention blindness
occurs, which results in
drivers having difficulty
monitoring their surroundings,
seeking and identifying potential
hazards, and responding to
unexpected situations.
The
danger of inattention blindness is
that when a driver fails to notice
events in the driving environment,
either at all or too late, it’s
impossible to execute a safe response such
as a steering maneuver or braking to
avoid a crash.¹ To
put it into simpler terms, for every
information input to the brain, the
brain must make many decisions: whether
to act on information processed how
to act, execute the action and stop
the action. While this process may
take only a fraction of a second,
all of these steps do take time.
When driving, fractions of seconds
can be the time between a crash or
no crash, injury or no injury, life
or death
As
adults, we know the rules of the road
and the risks, but sometimes we
feel that we are skilled veteran drivers
and we know how to handle juggling
while driving.
Resources:
National Safety Council: “Understanding
the Distracted Brain.”
¹ Wickens, C.D. , & Horrey, W.J.
(2009). Models of Attention, Distraction,
and Highway Hazard Avoidance.
In Driver Distraction:
Theory, Effects, and Mitigation. Ed. Michael
A Regan, John D Lee, Kristie L Young. CRC
Press, Taylor & Francis Group: Boca Raton,
FL.
Photos: Article.wn.com, gizmodo.com.au,
Carolina.hsinjurylaw.com and Sheknows.com,
Medicine World.org.
Point
& Question
Texting While Driving...
Stories
on cell phone use and texting while driving
have saturated the mediaalmost
to the point of ignoring the subject. With
that being said, I will stop here with
only two things for you to ponder
(one point and one question):
Point:
Back
in the day when driver’s
training was taught in high school
and FREE, we were taught “Defensive
Driving” were we not? Wouldn’t
our responsibility to defensive
driving in this day and age be
that we chuck our phones while
driving? Ok, maybe not chuck
them, but safely put them away
until our car is in permanent
park? Whether or not you feel
you do well while driving and
on the phone, wouldn’t
you rather use that attentive
time driving defensively looking
out for those who are not giving
their full attention to driving?
Question:
Can
your brain handle the outcome
of a cell phone-related crash
and the outcome – whatever
it may be? Watch
the following
clip entitled “It
Takes Just Seconds”. (Located on the far right side
of the home page).
Do
your part for safety awareness by passing this
information along to anyone you can think of
who would benefit.
Have
a great week, and remember…… Be
Responsible - Be Ready - Be Prepared!
Teaming Up for Emergency Preparedness
Elizabeth Hall
Office of Emergency Management
280 Campus Drive Hanford, CA 93230
(559) 582-3211, Ext. 2634 www.kingscountyoem.com >
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