New Findings Indicate Increased Consequences of Distracted Driving

Recent research on distracted driving indicates that it is a more significant issue than previously believed. In fact, distracted driving has already been linked to over 3,500 fatal accidents in the US this year alone. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied reveals a previously unconsidered factor that could contribute to even higher accident rates caused by distracted driving. According to Scientific American, the study suggests that there may be a lingering mental distraction for drivers after they have focused on something other than the road.

Cognitive psychologists conducted an experiment in a lab setting to monitor subjects’ performance on a driving task while simultaneously engaging in a distracting activity. The results showed that even after the distraction had ended, the participants were unable to fully regain their focus on driving for at least 30 seconds. This lingering effect, previously overlooked, is attributed to the information related to the distraction not being immediately cleared from a person’s working memory. This can cause cognitive interference and impact the driver’s ability to perform subsequent tasks effectively. For example, briefly losing focus while reading a new email can create a temporary “fog” when returning to the original task.

It is already known that humans are not as proficient at multitasking as they perceive themselves to be, and distractions go beyond just cellphone use. Activities like eating, adjusting GPS units, and other actions that divert the driver’s attention away from the road contribute to distracted driving. Consequently, new laws may be necessary to address this problem, and some jurisdictions have already started taking action. Police in Ohio, for instance, can now pull over drivers solely for using a phone or any other electronic device, according to the Columbus Dispatch. However, identifying phone use can be challenging for law enforcement officials. In North Carolina, the Highway Patrol has implemented the use of special cameras that capture images of drivers of commercial vehicles through their windshields, as reported by WNCN. Artificial intelligence technology is then employed to analyze these images and detect instances of phone use, enabling the police to take appropriate action. (Read more distracted driving stories.)