Lawmakers and policy makers love to feel like they’re doing something, even when that “something” is passing yet another bad law or writing more paternalistic policies. Well-intentioned though they may be, the government — and in fact, nobody — can stop you from making bad decisions about your life. You can’t legislate good judgment.
This past week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged a complete ban on talking or texting on smartphones while driving — including hands-free devices. While the ruling isn’t law, it’s a strong recommendation from a federal agency that everyone take up the kinds of strict bans that many states already have on the books in one form or another.
The focus on the method of distraction is the same kind of “blame the technology” emphasis I’ve seen elsewhere in our society (most notably when it comes to “Internet addiction“). It’s as if our mobile phones offer a magical, supernatural ability to distract while we’re driving, while the other thousand things that can also distract us aren’t so bad.
While no one — myself included — is arguing that distracted driving is a good thing, some common sense should enter into the picture when talking about new policies and laws. There is little evidence to suggest focusing on banning a single type of distraction while driving is going to result in much change in driver behavior.
Data is a wonderful thing. It demonstrates why focusing on texting or talking while driving is probably the wrong thing to do if you’re looking to decrease automobile accidents (and motor vehicle deaths).
According to a 2006 study by the NHTSA and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction within three seconds before the crash. In Table 8.5 from that report, you can see the relative risk of different in-car driver behaviors.
Over 7 percent of the risk of accidents or near-crashes can be attributed to the driver dialing, listening or talking while on a handheld cellphone (the study didn’t look at hands-free devices). Reading — which can also be a part of texting — is not too good to do either, with 2.85 percent of the risk. But right behind reading is eating — something nearly all of us have done in the car at one time or another — at 2.15 percent. And applying makeup should be outlawed as well, since it’s apparently a risk factor in 1.41 percent of crashes and near-crashes.
The study also found that eyeglances greater than 2 seconds contributed to 18 percent of all crashes and near-crashes. That’s the real reason why texting is so bad — it takes your eyes off the road for more than 2 seconds at a time.
Two seconds may not seem like much… But while driving at 65 MPH, 2 seconds is all you need in order to travel nearly 64 yards — or about two-thirds of a football field. Imagine how much damage you can do in that distance, to people and other drivers, if suddenly confronted with unexpected brake lights in front of you. You’re still going to need another 50 to 70 yards to come to a stop, once you look up and see the brake lights!
But eyeglances as measured in this study weren’t because of texting — they were because of external distractions, such as a parked car on the side of the road, or a police officer who’s pulled someone over. How can you outlaw human curiosity, which would result in the greatest decrease in crashes and near-crashes?
So a fair and reasonable law or policy should not discriminate against the specific type of distraction — whether it’s texting, talking on the phone, eating, reading the newspaper, or putting on makeup. Instead, it should focus on the category of “distracted driving” itself — the behavior, not the specific thing causing the behavior.
But here’s the problem… Trying to outlaw behavior that comes naturally to most people (and often stuff they grew up with) is really, really hard and bound to fail. People won’t stop the behavior just because it’s illegal (look how ineffective speed limits are generally). They’ll continue doing what feels “okay” even if the data suggest otherwise. And police can’t enforce these laws, because it’s virtually impossible to see what drivers are doing in each and every car you pass. If most of the population is engaging in one form or another of distracted driving, it’s also just a question of overwhelming numbers (like Prohibition).
Instead of laws, what’s needed is what’s often already being done — education and reminders about why any of these types of behaviors are generally bad for you (they greatly increase the risk of being involved in an accident). Laws targeted to such a specific behavior while ignoring other, nearly as dangerous ones, are seen for what they are — unfair and unenforceable.
This is Psychology 101: we’re really good at underestimating risk and overestimating our own ability (not to mention the abilities of the automobile we’re driving). While many people will still continue to take their chances, wrongly believing they can multitask well, others might be motivated to curb their distracted driving behaviors to keep that risk as low as possible. After all, few of us want to be injured or die in an automobile accident, so why increase our chances for doing so with only minimal inconvenience?
| Type of Inattention | Population Attributable Risk Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate to Severe Drowsiness (all occurrences) | 24.67 | ||
|
Dialing Hand-Held Device |
3.58 |
||
|
Reading |
2.85 |
||
|
Applying Makeup |
1.41 |
||
|
Reaching for a Moving Object |
1.11 |
||
|
Insect in Vehicle |
0.35 |
||
|
Talking/Listening to a Hand-Held Device |
3.56 |
||
|
Eating |
2.15 |
||
|
Reaching for Object (not moving) |
1.23 |
||
|
Looking at External Object |
0.91 |
||
|
Handling CD |
0.23 |
||
Read the Popular Mechanics article: Distracted Driving or Distracted Policymaking? Why the Proposed Car Cellphone Ban Is Wrong
10 comments
Dr. Grohol,
Your article makes an excellent point and I completely agree that education and fruitful-reminders are elements that are needed to change people’s attitudes about these types of behaviors. However, while these elements are necessary, I don’t agree that they are sufficient for a meaningful result (a significant decrease in accidents due to poor-behavior decisions). I don’t necessarily believe that distracted driving has increased due to people making more bad decisions per se, yet because there are more distractions for bad decisions to be made on. Before the introduction and assimilation of ubiquitous computing into our daily lives, we were engaging in cognitively taxing tasks while driving such as planning to accomplish things, remembering what we had to do when we got to the office/home, and mentally rehearsing work-situations , now we have the means to accomplish the goal as opposed to only planning for it. I believe a necessary compliment to education and fruitful-reminders about the dangers of distracted driving is the advancement of technology to reduce the cognitive load associated with these tasks. We live in an always-connected world; not an always-connected-except-in-your-car world. Emphasis should be taken off of what we “should” be doing and put on how we can do what we are currently doing more efficiently (with regards to distracted driving). Much progress is being made this way with the advent of many new technologies that have been implemented into new cars. However, I don’t believe we apply as much focus as we should to these facets of reducing distracted driving.
Thank you again for your article,
-Steven Entezari
NOT sent from my IPhone.
Watch this video, shows the effects of texting and driving… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1AiQFaoIHc
Let me offer this observation, spending about an hour plus a day driving just for work alone: people have no business being preoccupied with other matters when they are behind the wheel of an automobile traveling at speeds that take at least 5 or more seconds to stop the vehicle when the need arises. I was behind a woman in the fast lane of a three lane highway yesterday who was progressively slowing down from 60 MPH on a 60MPH road, and had to pass to get moving, and when I passed, she had her face focused on her phone and pushing buttons.
You know what annoys me with the defense crowd of not legislating laws to ban things that should be overly obvious not to be doing in the first place: if we showed global common sense, people would not be doing stupid things like texting while driving. But, there are enough stupid people who engage in stupid behavior that forces politicians to have to enact stupid laws that make us look stupid to outsiders. Maybe it is time to look at the bigger picture: when you are operating a motor vehicle, that is the agenda at the moment, and if your life is so busy and so critical to others to have to have constant contact by phones or screen messaging, then get your employer or if you own a business or lifestyle that requires this level of communication to hire a chauffeur to drive you! Maybe if enough people fit this description, unemployment may drop a bit!
Talk to the family who’s daughter died in a single vehicle accident in Howard County, MD earlier this year, because she was texting at night. Maybe when you personally feel the issue, then maybe the defense of the problem may take on a slightly different tone.
How about this for an idea: Get to work, or home, or the food store or whatever other errand, and then when you park or walk in the door, then call or text the person. You might actually be able to have the time to get the reply!!!
Excellent perspective! I couldn’t agree more. I have seen some of the stupidest laws when it comes to motor vehicles in my years. I just shake my head and think the exact same thing covered in this article. The problem is the the US roadways are a microcosm of our over all culture. It is a bastion of selfishness, short sightedness, poor risk assessment, easily distracted, zero delay to gratification, blame everybody else, angry, ignorance of reality. Autos are more about peacock feathers and wrong and false headed security then about getting quickly and safely from point to point. Reverse these traits, and solve all the driving problems. All’s we have to do is pass laws to make people more generous, truer at risk assessment, patient, other people’s perspective, responsibility accepting, more harmonious, and educated and the problem will nearly completely take care of itself. Have companies stop marketing vehicles as status symbols and extensions of how we want others to view us and watch as the accidents reduce.
We have a problem in this country, our economy and lifestyle is dependent on a large portion of our population having an automobile. Yet an equally large portion of our country hasn’t the mental capacity to drive one. You are lobbing yourself 65 MPH + down the highway. It’s not “natural†by any stretch. I really don’t see how they can gather the data. How many people responded “I was trying to fit my car in a gap that was only half the size of my car in rush hour traffic. One thing I noticed here was everything on the list was a “blame gameâ€. Nobody is going to say, “well that person is dead because I tried to shoot the gap between them and a semi so I could cross 4 lanes of traffic and not miss my exit.
You want to pass a policy that works. Fill the roads with “undercover†cars. They give out tickets for bad and selfish driving. We all do it from time to time. Make it so that 4 citations equals a ticket.
I was talking to a friend about the economy and culture awhile back. I said to him, “how do you turn to an entire culture and say, ‘everything you know is wrong. From your responsibility and techniques as a parent to what you think you are freedom means. It’s all dangerously inaccurate.’†You can’t with out appearing socialistic.
While using electronic devices while driving (e.g. “texting”) is undoubtedly dangerous, I commute through heavy traffic in a number of cities, and I see many instances of the following (or similar) behaviors:
Putting on makeup;
Reading the newspaper that is spread across the steering wheel;
Fumbling with cigarettes and lighters;
Eating yogurt from a cup, with a spoon;
Playing with in-car navigation;
Looking through CD collections;
Peering into other cars to see if the driver is doing something other than driving.
Vacant newspaper reporters fixate on a relatively obvious observation (texting while driving is dangerous — jeez, who would have thought?), and, needing to create a sensation to sell more papers, try to turn it into a “thing”, so they can fill more column-inches with, when it comes right down to it, inane drivel.
When the newspapers succeed in gaining some momentum with a stupid story, vapid politicians seize the moment so they can be seen to be “doing something”, regardless of whether what it is they finally do has any effect or even has negative unintended consequences (hey, why not create another problem for them to “fix” so they can be seen to be “doing something”).
Expending police resources to catch people “texting” while driving, meanwhile ignoring people applying makeup while driving, seems foolish.
People are going to engage in all kinds of irresponsible behavior, and it is not possible to have, and enforce, laws against each and every one of them. Driving without due care and attention is certainly a problem, and is already illegal. However, is it the most pressing of irresponsible behaviors? What about careless and unwanted pregnancy? Neglecting your children? Running up big credit card bills without the means to pay for them? What about turning a blind eye to a shoplifter in the supermarket? What about accepting change for $50, when you know you only tendered $20? Laws for each of them?
Legislation cannot fill the responsibility (or morality) void. People who are foolish enough to text while driving are likely to be scofflaws anyway. It’s illegal to rob banks. Has that stopped it?
KUDOS to the NTSB for advocating for a entire ban on cellphone use while driving. As you may know, nearly all 50 states that strictly ban texting while driving, is allegedly in violation of accessibility for people with disabilities. In other words, those without disabilities are allowed to use cellphones while driving, but not for those who use texting as an accommodation. While people with disabilities know that texting while driving is already inherently dangerous and do not do so anyway, such a law creates the message that those without disabilities are “better” than those with disabilities. Not only that, its already illegal to discriminate.TRUE safety while driving means that everyone in all modes of communication via cellphone should NOT be doing so while driving. This is common sense.It has also created a legal dilemma for President Obama who has a standing order that texting while driving is banned for all federal workers, but not for cellphone use (voicing). This created a nationwide discrimination of federal workers with disabilities who are not able to to conduct government business, yet those without disabilities are able to do so. This is clearly indicated in the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act, Telecommmunications Act of 1996, and other federal law which prevent one group from having telecommunications access while another group cannot. So, instead of nitpicking which cellphone use can or cannot be used while driving, it makes perfect sense for all of us to have a total cellphone use while driving… except in cases of emergency.So, ask yourself, What makes for TRUE safety while driving?
This is article hits the nail squarely on the head! Ditto to everything said and I add this: Stand on any street and observe the cars as they go by. I’ve counted on average 7 out of 10 cars’ drivers are using mobile devices. Are 7 out of 10 cars on the road involved in accidents every day? NO! Absolutely not! It’s not the devices. It’s the fool who thinks he can take his eyes off the road for more than a second at a time. The good driver knows YOU DON’T DO THAT. Don’t blame texting or using handheld devices. Texting/Devices don’t MAKE you do anything. YOU do. Education/Awareness is the key.
The amount of times we have nearly had an accident because of some idiot on a phone whilst driving is ridiculous and it’s about time punishment for these brainless morons was a lot more severe!
Whilst true there are a lot of dumb laws associated with driving that make no sense other than invasion of privacy (tinting windows is illegal in my country) the actual real danger of no concentration of the road whilst using a phone should be very apparent and dealt with.
Very thoughtful and accurate piece in my humble opinion. I think it accurately assesses the value of both public awareness campaigns and legislation; the latter being less valuable but not ineffectual.
Behavior changes when both pleasure and pain are linked. Unfortunately, the ‘pain’ aspect of distracted driving is subject to “not me” reasoning. However, the pleasure aspect can be powerfully set in motion.
It’s about commitment, higher self identification, and (believe it or not) the Law of Attraction- the more the message can be, ‘risking other people’s lives negatively affects your subconscious opinion of self and therefore, all you want to do, be, and have in life’, the better. In essence, not allowing distraction and negativity when driving improves the subconscious self and draws desires to us; it’s spiritual in nature (as are most of the seemingly more difficult answers).
Thanks for sharing all, Ken
For the exact same reasons you outlined, people still drink and drive. They know it’s dangerous and wrong, but they don’t think it will happen to them. Should we reverse those laws and stop pulling them over because no matter what we do, people will always drink and drive?
University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University found that motorcyclist deaths go down by 11% in states with primary enforcement or hands free laws. That’s approximately 50 humans per year just in the state of Florida. And that’s only the motorcycle deaths. We know what drives down crash rates; legislation, education and strict enforcement.
Your article is clearly written by someone who only understands this topic from an intellectual perspective. When someone runs over your kid and leaves them to die on the road it will be too late to recognize the truth. Stop writing things from such a narrow perspective professor, you’re looking foolish.
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