The first driver distraction study from an automaker or a government agency has underlined without a question mark that the growing list of vehicle safety “impeders” has grown in the digital age.
Sponsored by the AAA Foundation and conducted by the University of Utah, the distraction study adds to the hazard of mobile phones eight tasks that subtly or discreetly deflect a driver’s mind from control of his or her vehicle.
The study’s director, Dr. David Strayer, listed the driver “distractors” as follows:
- Doing nothing
- Listening to an audio book
- Listening to the radio
- Conversing with a passenger
- Calling a friend on a cellphone
- Texting a friend on a hands-free phone (the most distracting of all safety distractors)
Published by the Economist Magazine (June 22-28 edition) the “safety dissipater” story bears the headline “keep your mind on the road.”
“Would the results be the same in a driverless car?”
