Distracted Driving. Stephanie Bonne, MD

Transcription

1 Distracted Driving Stephanie Bonne, MD

2 Statistics The US sends billion text messages per month 3, 328 deaths due to distracted driving in % between the age of 20 and ,000 injuries involving a distracted driver 71% of teens say they have composed a text while driving 20% admit to extended, multi-message conversations while driving At any given moment in the US, 660,000 people are using their cell phones while driving Texting while driving makes an accident 23 times more likely

3 Using a cell phone while driving increases crash risk 4 fold Same risk as driving drunk Texting while driving makes a crash 23 times more likely TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS 6 TIMES MORE DANGEROUS THAN DRIVING DRUNK Statistics

4 Distracted Driving A single text take the driver s eyes off the road for 5 seconds At 55mph, 5 seconds = driving 1 football field, blind

5 Distracted Driving: More than a Text Distraction: a driver s attention is diverted away from driving by a secondary task that requires focusing on an object, event or person not related to the driving task. Electronic devices are made and marketed to grab and keep attention

6 Distracted Driving: More than a Text Distractions include: Texting Using a smartphone Eating and Drinking Talking to passengers Grooming Reading, including maps Using a navigation system Watching a video Adjusting the radio, CD or MP3 player

7 Not just Texting and Driving July 28, 2013: Train driver admitted to texting and not hearing warning signals Going twice allowed speed limit for track Crash killed 79 people

8 Not just Texting and Driving 2011 and 2012 saw a 4% increase in pedestrian fatalities Exact texting while walking statistics are unknown 1,152 pedestrians were treated in emergency rooms in 2011 for injuries sustained from stepping into traffic while texting 60% of one survey s respondents reported texting, internet browsing or checking messages while walking near traffic

9 Brain Function in Attention

10 Brain Function in Attention

11 Brain Function While Driving Whole brain is activating during driving task visual, auditory, sensory

12 Clinical models of Attention Focused attention: Ability to respond to specific stimuli Sustained attention (vigilance): Ability to maintain consistent behavioral response during continuous and repetitive activity Selective attention: Ability to maintain a cognitive or behavioral set in the face of distracting or competing stimuli - freedom from distractibility Alternating attention: The ability of mental flexibility that allows individuals to shift focus and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements Divided attention: Highest level of attention and refers to ability to respond simultaneously to multiple demands

13 Attention vs. Distractions Human brain is hard-wired for single attention Otherwise it would be overwhelmed by amount of knowledge each day Studies have shown Simulators show driver performance degradation while texting Slowed response times (including braking) while texting Reduced awareness of other traffic Consistent across studies: a 4-fold (400%) increase in a risk of crash with cellphone use of any kind

14 Science behind Distraction Swiss Cheese Model described by researchers Each distraction is a hole in the cheese Task performance is best when a single task is being performed

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16 Science behind Distraction Texting while driving causes inattention blindness Drivers look but fail to see or register events on the roadway In simulator studies, drivers talking on the phone see ½ of the roadway events as they do when not talking on the phone In simulator studies, when asked to count how many times a ball is thrown, people fail to see a person in a gorilla suit on the screen Talking and texting decrease brake responsiveness time by up to 2 seconds Increases both likelihood and severity of a crash

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19 What about Hands Free devices? Some studies show no change Some studies show decreased risk, but not to baseline Differs from a discussion with a passenger Passenger can stop talking in a difficult road situation Passenger can help watch for roadway events

20 What about Multitasking? Most neurologists say multitasking is a myth Brain is not capable of truly multitasking however, it can switch quickly between multiple tasks When switching happens so fast it seems to be multitasking like talking on the phone while driving Both tasks suffer from a lack of full attention Each switch tables about 0.3 of a second Time we travel about 2-3 car-lengths at highway speed Only about 2.5% of the human population is physiologically capable of focusing on more than 1 task at a time

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24 Laws Against Distracted Driving Primary law: Officer can ticket the driver for the offense without any other traffic violation taking place Secondary law means the officer can only ticket if the driver has been pulled over for another violation Missouri has a primary ban on texting for drivers younger than 21

25 Hand-held Bans

26 Texting Bans

27 All Cellphone Use Ban for Young Drivers

28 Do the Laws Work? Laws lead to a 50% reductions in cellphone use immediately after laws are enacted Long-term effectiveness is weaker No data to show that laws decrease injury or death

29 And finally. Psychologists at Harvard recommend one of the keys to happiness is: living in the moment If we allow our minds to wander, we might miss moments we would actually enjoy

30 Useful websites riving/pages/distracted_driving.aspx

31 References Foss R, Feaganes J, Rodgman E. Initial effects of graduated driver licensing on 16-year-old driver crashes in North Carolina. JAMA. 2001; 286: [PubMed: ] Ranney TA. Driver Distraction: A Review of the Current State-of-Knowledge. DOT HS Washington, DC: NHTSA; Redelmeier DA, Tibshirani RJ. Association between cellular-telephone calls and motor vehicle collisions. N Engl J Med. 1997;336: [PubMed: McCartt AT, Braver ER, Geary LL. Drivers use of handheld cell phones before and after New York State s cell phone law. Prev Med. 2003;36: [PubMed: ] Knudsen, Eric I (2007). "Fundamental Components of Attention". Annual Review of Neuroscience 30 (1): PMID Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Flombaum, J. I., Thomas, K. M., & Posner, M. I. (2001). Comparing images of conflict in frontal cortex. Annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY Sternberg; Sternberg, Karin (2012). Cognitive Psychology (Textbook) (Robert J. ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN Abouk R, Adams S. Texting Bans and Fatal Accidents on Roadways: Do They Work? Or Do Drivers Just React to Announcements of Bans? Am Econ J Appl Econ. 2013;5: Braitman KA, McCartt AT. National Reported Patterns of Driver Cellphone Use. Traffic Inj Prev. 2010;11: [PubMed] Sperber, D., Shiell, A., and Fyie, K. (2010). The cost-effectiveness of a law banning the use of cellular phones by drivers. New England Journal of Medicine, 336,