Tag: distracted driving

The Psychology Behind Distracted Driving: Understanding the Urge to Multitask

There was a time when modern devices like smartphones, GPS devices, and infotainment systems in cars didn’t exist, but drivers still had to contend with other distractions. These included children in the back seat, beautiful scenery, and daydreaming, which are also leading causes of car accidents.

All forms of distractions are dangerous to some extent. But there may be nothing you can do to help in some cases, for example, getting lost in thought while at the wheel.

Activities like talking on the phone, texting, messing with the infotainment system, watching a video clip, etc., call for multitasking and are 100 percent avoidable, especially considering the dangers they pose. But it may not be as easy as it sounds, as it is part of human nature to want to multitask.

What Is Multitasking?

Psychology describes multitasking as the act of handling more than one task at a time. The complexity of multitasking and its effect on the brain depends on the types of activities a person is engaging in at once.

For example, it doesn’t take a lot in terms of brain faculties to listen to music while driving, so such a thing isn’t much of a big deal. However, being in a conference meeting while driving is difficult, as both activities require much more attention, making the chances of getting into a car accident much higher.

How Does Multitasking Affect the Brain?

People handle multitasking differently, but it doesn’t make it safe for anyone while at the wheel. The science behind how the brain functions shows that the human brain can handle one task at a time, so it’s right to say there is nothing like multitasking as far as the brain goes.

What looks like multitasking is actually the brain switching between different tasks at a relatively high speed, but it can only focus on one task at any given millisecond. Eventually, the switching back and forth affects focus, accuracy, and a person’s effectiveness.

The Psychology of Distracted Driving

Distracted driving at face value is a choice. However, if you dig deeper, you will realize it takes much more than making a choice to keep off because it also has something to do with most drivers’ psychology. Technology, especially communication technologies like social media, are built to be attention-grabbing, and the more time you stay on there, the more perceived satisfaction you get.

There is always the allure of knowing what has happened in the past few minutes, how your post is doing, who’s liking it, and stuff like that. This allure and the dopamine hits individuals get from the likes and comments make staying away a battle against the mind.

There is also social pressure, and this is especially true for younger drivers. Since everyone talks of doing it, or how good they are at it, the habit seems less and less risky.

Drives can be boring and too monotonous. For people who love mind-stimulating activities, their minds always crave something exciting that only a device can offer.

You Can Avoid Driving Distracted

It won’t be easy to break a bad habit. But understanding that multitasking is a myth and that it’s only a matter of time till you make a terrible mistake should make you want to think twice about it.

It is a matter of life and death, so the question is not if you like keeping off your devices but if you want to save lives. Be intentional, even when it means putting distractions out of reach until you reach your destination.

Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. 2024
For more news on Avoiding Distracted Driving, visit the NLR Utilities & Transport section.

Distracted Driving vs. DUI: The Legal Consequences

Distracted DrivingWith the explosion of cell phones in the consumer marketplace, texting and driving has emerged as a national health crisis for individual motorists, the public, and the courts. In 2013, 10 percent of all fatal crashes involved distraction, resulting in the deaths of 3,154 people. Additionally, it is estimated that another 424,000 people were injured in accidents involving distracted drivers.1 In addition to texting while driving, other types of distracted driving include talking on cell phones, eating, using in-dash electronics, and any other activity that takes a driver’s attention away from the road.2

In response to the problems presented by texting and driving, 46 states and the District of Columbia have instituted laws forbidding the action, criminalizing texting and driving as at least an infraction.3 At the same time, other forms of distracted driving, including using social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SnapChat and recently, Pokemon Go, have emerged as major problems in their own right.4 In a study recently completed by Liberty Mutual Insurance, a survey of 2,500 teenagers revealed that almost 70 percent admitted to using social media apps while they drive.5 In another survey completed by the National Safety Council of 2,409 drivers of all ages, 74 percent of those who were surveyed indicated that they would use Facebook while they drove.6

Distracted Driving vs. DUI: Levels of Impairment

A 2006 study looked at the impairment levels of people who were using cell phones versus people who were intoxicated while driving. The University of Utah researchers used a driving simulator and compared study participants who were talking on their cell phones versus those who were legally intoxicated. The researchers looked at results using the simulator involving 49 adult participants who ranged in age from 22 to 45. They first obtained baseline driving results, then looked at driving while using cell phones and finally, driving with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 percent over a 3-day period.7 By looking at data obtained from driving profiles the researchers created using 10-second epochs, the researchers found that cell phone users, regardless of whether or not they were using hands-free or handheld devices, showed greater levels of driver impairment than did the drivers who were intoxicated by alcohol.8

Injury and Fatality Statistics for Distracted Driving Vs. Drunk Driving

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that distracted driving injures 1,161 people and kills eight every day in the U.S.9 By comparison, the agency reports that 28 people are killed every day in accidents involving drunk drivers.10 While the percentages of people using cell phones while driving has increased, drinking and driving has decreased.11, 12

Overview of State Laws: Distracted Driving vs. DUI Penalties in California and Alaska

The penalties for texting and driving vary from state to state. While the act is banned in 46 states, some jurisdictions, such as California, make texting and driving only an infraction. In California, a first offense is punishable by a fine of $20, and subsequent convictions are punishable by fines of $50.13

By comparison, Alaska treats texting while driving quite harshly, along with using other electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle. If a person does not injure another while texting and driving, he or she may still be convicted of a class A misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment in a county jail of up to one year.14 If a person is injured in an accident caused by someone who was texting while driving in Alaska, the driver may be convicted of a class C felony, and if a person is killed, the driver may be convicted of a class A felony, making the felony sentencing range anywhere from 5 years for a class C conviction up to 20 years for a class A conviction and a fine of up to $50,000 for a class C conviction and up to $250,000 for a class A conviction.

As compared to its treatment of texting while driving, California takes a much harsher approach to people who are convicted of driving under the influence. For a first offense, a person may receive up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.If the DUI offense resulted in an injury, then the person may either be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony as a wobbler offense. A felony conviction can result in up to 3 years in jail along with a fine of up to $5,000.16

Distracted Driving: Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

In states like California, which make texting while driving only a traffic infraction carrying very minimal fines, it is interesting to note the disparity between it and a DUI conviction in the same state. While texting and driving may cause greater driver impairment and potentially serious injuries or deaths, it is treated as a much less serious offense. In Alaska, by contrast, texting while driving is treated very seriously, potentially carrying penalties that are as great or greater than those for various levels of drunk driving offenses. The remainder of the states represents a mishmash, ranging between the four with no penalties at all to Alaska with the potential for a serious felony conviction.

Conclusion

Distracted driving is potentially just as or more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol. With millions of people routinely texting while driving or using social media applications while driving, the roads are becoming more dangerous. Still, the states have yet to catch up to the dangers posed by these forms of distracted driving with a majority treating them as minor infractions. States should review the research and consider bringing parity between their DUI statutes and penalties with their statutes criminalizing texting and driving. An added emphasis on educational campaigns about texting while driving along with campaigns about using social media apps while driving may also be added steps that states should consider. Failing to take further action to curb these forms of distracted driving could be potentially disastrous.

ARTICLE BY Steven M. Sweat
Copyright © 2016 · Steven Sweat

1. NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, [hereinafter NHTSA 2013 report] available at http://www.distraction.gov/downloads/pdfs/Distracted_Driving_2013_Resear….

2. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, INJURY PREVENTION and CONTROL, MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY, DISTRACTED DRIVING, 1 (2016)[hereinafter CDC report] available at http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/.

3. Governors Highway Safety Association, Distracted Driving Laws (2016), available athttp://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html.

4. Liberty Mutual Insurance, Teen Driving Study Reveals “App and Drive” is New Danger Among Teens, New Worry for Parents (2016), available at https://libertymutualgroup.com/about-lm/news/news-release-archive/articl….

5. Id.

6. National Safety Council, Distracted Driving Public Opinion Poll (March 2016), available at http://www.nsc.org/NewsDocuments/2016/DD-Methodology-Summary-033116.pdf.

7. David L. Strayer et al., Fatal Distraction? A Comparison of the Cell-Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver (2006), available athttp://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/DrivingAssessment2003.pdf.

8. Id.

9. Supra note 2.

10. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, INJURY PREVENTION AND CONTROL, MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY, IMPAIRED DRIVING, 1 (2016), available at http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_fact….

11. Distraction.gov, What is Distracted Driving?, http://www.distraction.gov/stats-research-laws/facts-and-statistics.html (last visited Aug. 2, 2016).

12. Matthew Chambers et al., UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS, DRUNK DRIVING BY THENUMBERS (2016), available at http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/by….

13. Cal. Veh. Code § 23123.5(d).

14. Alaska Stat. §§ 28.35.161, 12.55.035, 12.55.135, 12.55.125.

15. Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23152, 23153.

Copyright © 2016 · Steven Sweat

Protect Workers From The Number One Cause of Workplace Deaths – Distracted Driving

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Distracted driving is the number one cause of workplace deaths in the United States.  OSHA has partnered with the National Safety Council to call employers’ attention to this issue and urge the adoption of safe driving policies.  Failure to adopt and enforce such policies in the workplace leads to tragic results and OSHA has made it perfectly clear that employers who do not take this issue seriously should expect OSHA citations.  On its distracted driving webpage, the agency has stated that employers “have a responsibility and legal obligation to have a clear, unequivocal, and enforced policy against texting while driving.”

But to truly protect your employees from the hazards of distracted driving, your policy should cover more than just texting.  A comprehensive policy should cover all employees, both handheld and hands-free devices, company vehicles, company cell phones and all work-related communications.  All employees should be forbidden to use cell phones, hands-free devices, and any other mobile electronics while operating a vehicle when:

  • the vehicle is owned, leased, or rented by the employer

  • a personal motor vehicle is used in connection with company business

  • the motor vehicle is on the employer’s property

  • the cell phone or mobile electronic device is owned or leased by the employer

  • the cell phone or mobile electronic device is used to conduct company business

Employers should strongly discourage distracted driving by incorporating written safe driving policies into employee handbooks, providing training on these policies during worker orientation, and providing annual refresher training.  Safe communication practices should be put in place such as established procedures, times, and places for drivers’ safe use of cell phones and other electronic devices for communicating with supervisors, customers, and others.  To the extent that the employer has any programs in place that could incentivize employees to use cell phones or other electronic devices while driving, they should be eliminated.

Finally, safe driving policies must be enforced – it is not enough simply to write a policy and provide employee training.  As we have all become so dependent on our cell phones and other mobile electronic devices, it is likely that some employees will resist or simply ignore these policies, but enforcement is necessary to truly improve employee safety.  Accordingly, employers should reprimand employees who violate safe driving policies and those reprimands should involve serious penalties, including, where appropriate, termination.  There is no way to protect employees from every hazard they may encounter on the road, but implementing a strong safe driving program will go a long way towards decreasing the likelihood of a workplace tragedy on the road.

ARTICLE BY

Valerie Butera
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.