The Effect of Distracted Driving

The difference between a safe and unsafe driver in my opinion is based on the driver’s commitment to focusing on the objective. If a driver is not focused on the action of driving then the driver’s commitment to driving has averted to a different subject. This act of carelessness or bludgery is named appropriately as distracted driving, that is for very good reasoning as well.

To reduce the risk of becoming one of these distracted drivers the best and most simplistic answer is to place all of the distractions away from where the focus is supposed to be concentrated. If that means chucking your phone into the trunk of your car or even just removing the knob off of your sweet new media entertainment system. The lack of access to these lavish luxuries is going to keep you and others safer. To operate a vehicle the driver must synchronize their entire body in the use of the driver’s feet being used to control the car’s acceleration, speed, breaking, and shifting. The operator’s hands must be used in actions synchronous to the actions of the driver’s feet such as turning, lane centering, light signals, windshield wipers, and cruise control. The operator’s inputs such as its eyes, ears, nose, and nerves are all needed constantly in the driving of a vehicle, these key inputs must be interpreted by the brain and reprocessed into something that the muscles of the driver’s body can understand. This action of the driver’s input and processing by the brain to create a set of instructions to be delivered to the correct muscle is scientifically proven to take an average of 1250 milliseconds. Now that 1250 milliseconds may not sound like a lot initially, but actually is if it is calculated out. For example if you are driving on the interstate and the speed limit is 75 miles per hour, but hypothetically let’s say you as a driver are traversing at a speed of 80 miles per hour, those 1250 milliseconds would equate you travelling an additional 146.66625 feet. This number is without even being distracted. If another task was to be added to the initial task of driving that reaction time would be significantly enlarged and additionally the reaction distance.

To reduce the risk of distracted driving car manufacturers suggest that drivers place their distraction(s) in the car so that it is not easily accessible by the driver without pulling over to a safe place. The best way to do this is to place the distraction in a bag such as a purse or a backpack. I personally carry a fanny pack with me whenever I drive and place it underneath my seat. Another cool technology that is coming out for people that have an issue with their phones distracting them is driver safety mode which blocks notifications and access to the phone while driving using GPS, gyroscopes, and Artificial Intelligence. It is also important to reduce distractions such as people and other sounds that are non-essential for operating a vehicle. The best way to do so is to remove those distractions, whether it be asking people to be quiet or turning off the radio. Removing these distractions removes the filtering that is required by the brain to create a reaction to properly operate the vehicle.