When I see a driver texting, I am baffled at how someone can justify being so clearly irresponsible. If it were a hardcore few, like the Facebook user that formed the "
I am a pro at texting and driving" group, I could just explain it away as being part of the underlying stupidity coefficient of the universe. But when 98% of young drivers in our
study admit to texting in some form, and usually with both hands, there is a more interesting mystery at work. So, what exactly is going on?
Well, one reason that is not at work is the failure to appreciate the risks of texting and driving. In our research, younger drivers rate talking on the phone while driving as a risky behavior, and they rate texting and driving as a very risky behavior. But knowing these risks has little to no effect on whether they choose to engage in them. Interestingly, it is also not just general irresponsibility on the part of younger drivers. How do we know that? Because calls made while driving increase as the young drivers deem those calls to be "important" to make, while the texts they send are more frequently for goal-directed reasons, such as sending a status update, than to alleviate boredom or just to be social. (
Click for reasons young drivers send and reply to texts).
So why does it happen? Here's one clue we uncovered, which occurs when a younger driver is faced with the dilemma of sending a text when they know it's risky. We know that when faced with a conflict between our behavior and our attitudes, this cognitive dissonance often causes us to change our attitudes rather than our behaviors. We see this in younger drivers who text despite knowing the risk.
We asked drivers to rate the danger of road conditions while thinking about either reading, replying to or initiating a text message. When they think about reading a text and driving, they are pretty good at assessing the risk of current driving conditions. For example, they rate freeway driving as demanding as driving in bad weather.
However, when they are asked to think about initiating a text while driving, they say driving on a freeway is like driving on a calm street. In other words, they know sending a text is dangerous, so they downplay the risk of the driving conditions. Interestingly, when they are thinking about replying to a text, they rate freeway driving to be some place between attentionally demanding and driving in calm conditions. Since they were "forced" to text because they had to reply, they can admit the risk to themselves by laying some of the blame for their behavior on the sender.
So perhaps one reason for the coming epidemic is that staying in constant touch is far more compelling for younger drivers than concerns for risk. When they do engage in what they know is risky behavior, they change their beliefs about how seriously to take driving. Our finely-tuned internal mechanisms for self-deception help to maintain this obviously dangerous behavior.
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Dave B.
I, too, have found myself either taking/making calls or texts, many of which could have been put off until later. Some of those, although not necessary immediately, were still required from my employer for me to update them on my current status. I am not excusing it, but stating the truth, almost all drivers can and will justify use of a cell phone or texting while driving despite knowing the dangers of doing so. I believe that what should/could be done is require/enforce the hands-free method of communication while driving; then, enable drivers to obey hands-free requirements via better and more affordable bluetooth devices, integration of hands-free into more vehicle sound systems and better speech recognition apps on phones and bluetooth headsets. I am mixed in opinion on the traffic camera vs. spying on drivers issue, but it may be a way to inhibit texting/cell phone use by drivers somewhat. Take a picture of their "distracted driver" status, send the driver a fine, assign points or issue a warning. I know of areas (I-270 in MD is one, I think) that monitor HOV usage via cameras, and Chicago uses the radar speed limit signs present in construction zones to send speeding tickets. In my opinion, anything done that is not directly involved in controlling the vehicle is a distraction, but, note that I've admitted to being involved in the same actions/distractions. As a former tractor-trailer driver of 11 years, I have seen a lot of distracted drivers, this includes other truck drivers. Adjusting the heater and FM radio or CB use is distracting, too, just to keep it in true perspective. I have almost been in a number of accidents because ADULTS were distracted by the phone call or text typing while driving. This is not just teens that are guilty. I've seen adults with van loads of kids run red lights or swerve into lanes of opposing traffic while chatting on the cell phone. Adults, lead by example, and put down the phone and drive safe. By the way, I am 41 years old and do not qualify as a teen.
John McPolin
The problem is obvious and is exacerbated by automotive journalists. A car is for transportation and enjoyment of the driving experience. I subscribe to many automotive publications and I am sick of having them tout the electronic/communication features of the vehicle. When people treat cars as rolling phone booths the only result can be chaos. Business necessities excluded, cell phones and texting are just tools for egos that have sad and pathetic lives. Do you really think there is any place in a 427 Cobra for a phone?
Steve Dorr
The real truth is that most people driving cars think of driving as a low attention task. My observation is that for most of these folks, it is not a matter of talking/texting interfering with their driving .... they really see it as the driving task interfering with their conversation, being it text or vocal. DRIVING is the low priority task in their thinking of the moment. Until we can raise the consciousness of the importance of the driving task relative to other tasks, this will not change. Hands free devices will not help because it is not a matter of the hands being too busy, it is a matter of the brains being too busy. There are many studies out there on multi tasking but the bottom line is the younger generations are doing it more and more. They tweet while walking too ... and walk right into the most obvious obstacles!
Mary
I am a high school senior at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins Colorado, and immensely affected by this issue. I am the editor for our student newspaper, and also involved in a civic action (CAP) project through the Constitutional Rights Foundation on a mission to bring awareness to teenagers about the dangers of cell phones in cars. In October a bill was passed in Colorado, House Bill 09- 1094 driven by Shelly and Darren Forney, a local couple after they tragically lost their daughter due to a driver talking on a cell phone. The bill states that it is now illegal for all drivers to text while driving, and all drivers under 18 to be touching a cell phone in anyway, including talking on the phone. While having this bill passed was a huge turning point in the state of Colorado in terms of the safety of our roads, it has no effect if there is not awareness. Through my project, my goal is to dramatically increase awareness of the dangers and consequences of picking up the phone while driving throughout my high school. My plan to do this is to give a bumper sticker to every driving student (which is about a thousand students) promoting following the cell phone in cars ban, a sheet of statistics showing the dangers of the subject along with the Forney’s story. Awareness to teenagers about this problem can make a tremendous difference. Nearly no high school students read the news or follow current events, so knowledge about the dangers and consequences for this must come from an alternate source, which is why I am going directly to the parking lots. To check out the project, go to http://www.crfcap.org/. contact infornmation: 12781@psdschools.org http://eweb.psdschools.org/schools/rockymountain/
Paul Atchley
Nice work Mary. Sadly, more work like yours will need to be done to deal with this tragic state of affairs.
Bob
I drive a Sprinter van most days. The Sprinter sits up really high compared with other vehicles, so I see people doing all kinds of things, from reading newspapers to eating fast food (or both), but when I see someone texting, I always lay on the horn. I think the penalty for texting while driving should to force the driver to trade in his or her car for a 1960's VW with a bad transmission. You know, the kind where you need to hook the bungie cord or wrap the seatbelt around the lever to hold it in second gear. That will keep them so busy that they'll have no time to text. Also, if it gets all frosty inside, they'll be really busy trying to wipe the fog off the windows. This is what driving is all about. These new modern cars make driving so easy that people get bored and have time to think about texting. Hey, thanks for the great article. I'm going to force my children to read it.
John Fistere
Sometimes people advocate hands-free phones over non-hands free, because they think that hands free is safer. There may be a slight difference, but I think the distraction level for talking on a cell phone is largely visual in nature, and I don't mean what the eyes see, but what the brain sees. When you are talking on a cell phone to someone, I believe the brain is essentially visualizing the person to whom you are talking, and the outside environment (the road) is pushed to the mental background. More minor errors in driving occur, and the brain probably takes longer to recognize an emergency situation, because it has to refocus visually. I think that this also explains why talking to passengers and listening to the radio is probably far less distracting than taking to an individual. Your brain is not busy creating a visual image of the passenger, and listening to the radio probably does not stimulate the creation of as vivid a visual image as talking to someone. If an fMRI (functional MRI) could differentiate between the brain focusing on an external road image scene, and visualizing a phone call participant, a corresponding experiment would go a long way towards understanding phone call distraction. Other versions of the experiment could evaluate the effects of radio music, radio talk, and conversing with a passenger. John