A Letter From My Student
05.07.2012
Professor Paul Atchley's visit to the Distracted Driving Summit inspired a passionate call in his classroom to end this dangerous behavior. The message is getting through.
It's Not Just Your Car, It's Your Freedom
02.08.2012
Many would say that in the American psyche, cars equal freedom. Could this be what's behind the resistance to distracted driving legislation in the USA?
Driving and Facebooking
01.23.2012
Facebook posts from behind the wheel of this teenager's moving vehicle make for tragic consequences.
Calling in Cars: What Are the Benefits?
12.14.2011
New laws and regulations often result in any number of unintended consequences. If bans on cell phone use while driving were to be instituted, are there any real "benefits" that we stand to lose?
How Do You Cross the Street in Vietnam?
10.07.2011
How Do You Cross the Street in Vietnam? The quick answer is “Slowly and predictably.” As a researcher on traffic-related issues, my trip to Vietnam, where traffic obeys loose "guidelines" rather than rules, was a lesson in predictable chaos.
What is the Cost?
08.12.2011
I recently had to write a “benefits” section for a proposal to develop public safety campaigns to limit texting and driving. We all know that crashes are bad, but how bad are they? If we ignore the immense toll of pain and suffering, and we just try to put accidents caused by texting into a "cost analysis", what would that look like?
One Simple Change
07.22.2011
Two events happened over the last couple of weeks that prompt me to ask whether we would be willing to make one simple change that could dramatically improve our ability to understand distracted driving.
Why We Are Stuck in the '70s and Why That Isn't So Bad
05.03.2011
Ask a younger driver which is worse: A crash from someone texting, or a crash from someone drinking? Which one do you think they would pick? It turns out the answer is a bit complicated...
Vehicle distraction systems: The 21st century cup holder
03.18.2011
In posts this year, David Strayer and I have shined the spotlight on the contributions -- or lack thereof -- of both users and the government to the distracted driving problem. If you've seen TV ads recently, you know there is another contributor we haven't accounted for: automobile manufacturers. ...
We could end the problem right now but...
02.21.2011
What if I told you that we could end the problem of drivers using cellular phones to talk, text, surf or whatever-is-coming-next RIGHT NOW? Okay, let me rephrase that. I am telling you we could end the problem right now, or at least start on a path toward that end... but the solution is being he...
The Coming Epidemic: Part 2, What Are They Thinking?!
02.01.2011
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...
Wait, Wait... Don't Deceive Me
01.22.2011
A week or so ago, the popular NPR news quiz show "Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me" asked guests to fill in the blank on the following statement: Contrary to popular belief, new research suggests (BLANKING) can actually improve driver safety. Answer: TALKING ON THE PHONE. What!? How could this be?...
The Coming Epidemic: Part 1, A View of the Future
01.06.2011
I would like to thank David Strayer and the Car Talk crew for the invitation to contribute to the Distracted Driving blog. It is a pleasure to be here and talk about o...
The water balloon theory of driver distraction...
09.29.2010
Remember that summer pastime of filling balloons with water and then tossing them at each other to keep cool on hot afternoons. One thing about a water balloon, if you push on one side, it will squish out somewhere else until it bursts. Countermeasures to address driver distraction often act like ...
What happens when technology fails us?
09.27.2010
If you think technology will deliver us from driver distraction, just watch this video of a Volvo crash test! The pedestrian avoidance system was designed by Volvo to detect and avoid hitting a pedestrian thereby improving pedestrian safety. In the video, 1 out of 4 tests resulted on a system fail...
