Driver distractions: results from a conference

By: Drivers.com staff

Date: Monday, 12. February 2007

In an Internet conference on driver distractions hosted by the U.S. government in August 2000, Hiroshi Tsuda, a human factors expert with Nissan, pondered whether humans will be able to withstand the onslaught of onboard distractions planned for their future. "Will the product (even if unintentionally) cause 'human nature' to do what is not rationally safe? If the answer is 'yes,' then consideration should be given as to how these systems are designed and marketed."

The question of human nature and driving is at the core of our theme here at Drivers.com. Can drivers be educated and trained to manage their own capabilities and deal with the trials and tribulations of modern traffic, or should the lawmakers and the engineers try to do the job for us?

Radios in cars

"A grave problem that developed in New Hampshire, spread to Massachusetts, and crept over to Albany, now has all the motor-vehicle commissioners of the eastern states in a wax. It's whether radios should be allowed on cars. Some states don't want to permit them at all-say they distract the driver and disturb the peace. The manufacturers claim that the sound of Rudy Vallee's voice is less disturbing than backseat conversation.

Massachusetts leans toward the middle of the road. The commissioner there thinks the things should be shut off while you are driving, but that you should be allowed to take culture with you into the wilderness. The whole problem is getting very complex, but the upshot is that you'll probably be allowed to take your radio anywhere, with possibly some restriction on the times when you can play it."

Written by Nicholas Trott in the 1930s

For now, it looks as if the research community favors the latter. Loren Staplin, a human factors psychologist and Vice President for Transportation Safety at The Scientex Corporation, was a member of an expert panel that participated in the Internet conference mentioned above. Staplin doesn't think that current training and education methods can be very effective. No matter how well a driver is trained, Staplin believes, it's psychological conditioning that counts.

"An individual who has received relatively more extensive driver training may be expected to more rapidly find, understand, and react appropriately to the most safety-critical information in a given situation than an untrained or poorly trained individual," Staplin says.

However, he points out, drivers inevitably develop a perception that they have "spare capacity"-time left over from the actual task of driving the vehicle. There's a danger, he speculates, that trained drivers may feel more in charge and therefore feel an increased sense of spare capacity, making them even more susceptible to distractions.

Related links:

Conference on driver distractions: Sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Twenty research papers on different aspects of driver distraction were presented for discussion. An expert panel answered questions from participants.
The educator's standpoint : a Drivers.com editorial about how training and education might help.
Drivers.com's links to articles about car phone distractions .