Driven To Distraction Essay

The Mythbusters tested the idea that driving while talking on a cell phone is just as dangerous as driving drunk. To test this, they had two people attempt the same driving course three times: once sober with no distractions, once sober while distracted by a phone conversation, and once intoxicated. The independent variables in this experiment are, therefore, the use of a cell phone and the driver’s alcohol level. The dependent variable is the driver’s ability to successfully complete the course, including stopping on time and avoiding the cones outlining the course.

First off it is important to have a controlled condition in testing the hypothesis so we can determine what changed during the experiment. The only conditions that should be different in this experiment are talking on the cell phone while driving and focusing on the road without distractions (use of a cell phone). A closed course would be best to test the hypothesis because it would need to

The dual-task interference was the cell phone conversation that the participants were having while driving. The results of the study showed that all the group “participants in the single-task condition” were all familiar with the roadway signs more than the “participants in the dual-task condition”

Using a cell phone while driving has become the biggest manual distraction while driving.  According to a study, conducted by The University of Utah (2013),

Driving Us to Distraction Summary-Response Paper The essay, ‘Driving us to Distraction’ by Gilbert Cruz is about the dangers of hands-free technology while driving. The author argues that while driving and talking on a cell phone is deadly, using hands-free technology is not that much better of a choice. He supports his argument by citing a 2003 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that found cellphone use to be a serious hazard on the road and by mentioning a series of simulator tests conducted in 2007 by a psychology professor at the University of Utah named David Strayer.

In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that “8 people are killed and 1,161 are injured daily in the United States” (CDC). At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010 (DMV). Further supporting the fact that cell phones have become such a precious commodity that it is hard to imagine everyday life without them. Cell phones alone aren’t the problem, but when you add the cell phone plus a vehicle into the mix it’s just not possible to safely reach your destination. When you are operating a motor vehicle the task requires a person’s full mental capacity, so when a person is using their phone and driving they’re splitting their focus onto two separate task. “Among the various forms of distracted driving, texting stands out as particularly dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction, requiring the driver to take his eyes off the road, remove at least one hand from the steering wheel and take his mind off the task of driving” (Gormley 91).

The critical error in using a phone while operating a motor vehicle is reaction time and the possible effects of distraction by the use of a phone. The reaction time of watching for road hazards, slowing down, applying the brake pedal, and watching for turning signals or stop lights are reduced when a driver is texting at the same time as operating a vehicle. While normal driving conditions

Cellular Device Use & Multitasking while Driving Lex Drayton Scientific Research 5th period August 25, 2017 Abstract The significance and purpose of doing this study was to find out if the myth of using cellphones while driving is more distracting than listening to music, talking to others in car, or eating while driving. It is known that people always try to multitasking while driving.

In order to prove that distracted driving is dangerous and has serious consequences, an experiment should be conducted to prove the following hypothesis: talking on the cell phone impairs driving skills.

Instead of a driving simulator that was used for the first two studies participants followed a car that would break at random. The ERPs were reduced by 50% when driver talked on the cellphones compared to the single task group. This supports the hypothesis that the participants are not encoding the information when distracted and less able to react. The fourth study looked and a hands free cell phone conversation but instead of the single task they had participants talking to a passenger when driving. The drivers with the passenger had about 88% of participants that completion and the dual task group had 50%. It is believed that the to people worked together to help the driver stay safe. It was hypothesized by the researchers that cell phones are distracting because of the idea that the central-processing bottleneck. The central-processing bottleneck is the idea that the brain has these two sources of information, and the brain is taking turns rather than doing two task at once. It implies that humans can not multitask, making phones and driving unsafe.

Today, many persons own a cell phone and do multiple tasks on the phone. Whether it is texting, calling, or checking emails, people today are addicted to their phone. This tends to cause drivers to use their phone while driving, for they feel the need to be connected at all times. Doctor Stephen S. O’Connor along with many other doctors conducted a survey about phone use and driving, and the doctors reported that there were many symptoms that associated with one another. The symptoms were characteristics of impulsivity, problematic alcohol use, and anxiety (O’Connor, 2013). These characteristics are strong and can lead to distracted driving. The impulse characteristic may kick in when one does not use their phone for a while or who feel the need to stay connected. This leads to a hard to break temptation to use their phone for a quick second. In addition to the impulse characteristic, anxiety is another factor for distracted driving. One may feel anxious to use their phone to check for new messages or anticipated phone calls. When a driver is anticipating a message or phone call, some of their attention goes to their phone when it should all be focused on the road. Even though the driver is not physically using the phone, he or she is distracted from the road, for he or she is listening for a notification

For many years, there has been controversy over whether or not cell phone usage impairs one’s driving ability. In this essay, we will be discussing whether talking on a cell phone impairs driving skills. To test the dangers of talking on a phone, several things need to be accounted for. In order to make sure the test is valid and reliable, the researchers need to make sure the experiment has the right subjects needed to be tested, in the right conditions, with a control to test the hypothesis, or testable predictions derived from a theory.

One thing phone related distractions, like talking on a cell phone, or reading and sending texts and emails behind the wheel all have I common is the ability to impair the attention and cognitive ability of the driver.

A driver, who is focused on their phone is not paying attention to the other vehicles around them. Dirkin and Hancock argue that “as cognitive workload increases, the fact that an individual’s functional visual field narrows is due to selective attending rather than to a sensory decrease”( Dirkin and Hancock (1985)). This means that the driver chooses to pay attention to their phone instead of the road which doesn’t decrease their attentiveness but rather divert it to a non-priority task instead of driving. The reason this is an issue is that when a driver’s reaction time is altered they can overcompensate for issues that occur. Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute have conducted a study that determined that “when reading or writing texts, drivers exhibited reductions in reaction time that were nearly twice as great as previously thought”.

The effect of using a hand-held cellular phone and listening to radio broadcast on driving performance will be explored. There are many careless drivers on the road who are mostly talking on the hand-held cell phone. It is predicted that using a hand-held phone would take the driver’s attention away and would cause driving slowly. Since many accident reports show that cell phone use while driving is dangerous it is questionable if listening to radio will also be detrimental on driving task. Many people turn on the radio for entertainment or to fight from drowsiness especially if there is no other passenger in the vehicle. It is predicted that having a conversation with using a hand-held cell phone while driving will decrease the driving performance, while listening to a radio broadcast will not have significant effect. Important implications for the results for driving performance and for future research will be discussed.