Attention is Finite Resource

A sea of red break lights. Ugh, why is there so much traffic!? As my Waze arrival time started slowly creeping up, I began to worry about being late to my babysitting job. When the mangled cars began to come into view, I understood the reason for the traffic.

Being in the right lane, I got a horrid closeup. A mom being taken out of the driver’s seat, and her two children in the back. The kids were unharmed but scared of the larger-than-life men in their bulky uniforms. I knew I had to pull over to see what I could do to help.

I tried to talk to and comfort the children until a relative arrived. I learned from the police officer that the unharmed young driver in front of them received a ticket for distracted driving due to cell phone usage. In the State of New Jersey, this is illegal without hands-free technology (N.J.S.A 39:4-97.3).

As I walked back to my own car, I saw the distraught look on the other driver’s face. As so many eyes bore into him, I realized that today could also be the worst day of his life. He will likely have the shame and guilt of a seemingly harmless usage of his phone, as well as significant legal issues.

He was not a criminal until then. He didn’t set out that day to harm someone. It was a mistake, a huge one with undeniable bad legal and social outcomes. One that was easily preventable, but had become such normal behavior, like many other young drivers, he probably didn’t think much of it.

The notification sounds phones make are detrimental to cognitive performance. Even if you deliberately don’t answer your phone you are taking up attentional resources thinking about what you missed. The prefrontal cortex of the brain handles attention, memory and problem solving. The parietal cortex handles collection and processing of information as well as perspective. All of this brain function is needed to drive safely. Attention is a finite resource, and when you give your phone any of that attention- at the worst picking it up and answering it, or at the least just listening to the ring and gazing at the Caller ID, you are giving your driving less attention. Additionally, the psychology of “not getting caught” results in reinforcement of behavior and feeling that it is an OK norm. This is known as “the cheaters high” and reinforces negative behavior.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America. Mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers (NHTSA). Teen drivers are far more likely than other drivers to be involved in fatal crashes because of lack of driving experience and tend to take greater risks due to immaturity. Teens take longer to respond to dangerous situations due to weighing options slower than adults. A good thing in some situations, but a hazard on the road when required to make snap judgments. Adult drivers are much more inclined to go with their gut, whereas teens may unknowingly waste precious seconds processing novel information. In summary, teens are already at a disadvantage when driving and therefore need full attention on the road.

Over the following few weeks as I processed the event and wondered how the mom and the kids made out, I realized how strongly I felt about distracted driving being unacceptable, as well as completely avoidable. As a new driver myself, I have made a habit of personally focusing on the road supported by turning on the Driver’s Mode phone setting. This prevents incoming calls, texts and notifications while driving, and became my own driving norm.

The setting is available on every iPhone and Android, but under-utilized. Much greater driver education and awareness are needed. If you ask majority of teens (I validated this by asking over ten friends!), we realize it is unsafe to drive distracted and serious consequences can result… but the temptation that the notification sounds cause are truly an intrusion into the psyche.

End Distracted Driving (EndDD), a local New Jersey advocacy group, started a campaign that educates on this tool. Local ambassadors like driving schools, high schools and colleges need to start acknowledging this campaign annually via contests and commitments, to bring education and attention. I have shared the campaign with my High School who agrees it is a noble feat and will acknowledge significantly this year. I have proposed a student commitment to take out their phones and turn on the setting right there. More education and advocacy toward simple solutions can be the major change needed to create positive habits, as well as force negative stigma so other passengers “speak up”, in the distracted driving epidemic.