Cells, bells, smoke and mirrors
By: Gary Magwood
Date: 2002-09-07
Let me establish a few basic realities surrounding the current "silver bullet" cure to reduce vehicle crashes and collisions being presented at a high profile coroner's jury in Whitby, Ontario: the banning of cell phones.
In the past few months cures have ranged from the removal and/or retesting of elderly drivers, faulty highway design, "inexperienced" teen and new drivers and winter weather conditions.
Cell phones are not the problem. Cellphone use while driving is not the problem. The intensity of the conversations are not the problem. Hand held, hands free or headset phones just confound the issue.
The debate currently raging in editorial columns and on radio and TV talk shows focuses on this specific crash. Anecdotes, photos of drivers yacking and driving in newspapers and statements from safety councils added to testimony from various traffic researchers and wireless phone companies all get entered into evidence and add to the confusion.
Who's right? From whose perspective is the evidence being submitted? Somewhere in the vortex of chatter lie a few truths.
Drivers have been crashing into trains or trains have been crashing into drivers for almost a hundred years. These tragedies happened long before the advent of radial tires, "three on the tree", bucket seats, disc brakes, anti-lock braking systems, traction control, air bags, deformable structures, stability control technology, stunning sound systems and, of course, cell phones.
What hasn't changed, however, is our attitude towards the driving task. We take driving for granted. We have taken it for granted for almost a hundred years. We have never given the task the respect it's due. Systems and processes for educating and training drivers have not kept pace with the vast and rapid changes in the driving environment.
How much thought do you put into the driving task? Do you check and/or adjust your seating position, mirror settings (rear and side-views) and your hand position on the steering wheel before backing out of the driveway and into traffic?
Do you take a few seconds to switch mental gears before shifting the lever into drive? I suggest you concentrate more to line up a tee shot, serve a tennis ball, strike a cue ball, or run down a ski slope than you do for driving.
We all live incredibly busy and sometimes frantic lives. Our internal dialogues very seldom rest. It's constantly active. Sitting behind the wheel is very conducive to ramping up the process of making decisions, planning an upcoming meeting, dealing with partner's and offspring's schedules and on and on.
So, it's no wonder if we overlay the diversion of an external conversation on an already busy internal conversation we reach a multi-tasking overload. Our vision drops down to the hood of our vehicles, hand positions shift on the steering wheel, and our ability to make vital decisions is compromised. We cease scanning ahead for potential hazards, don't see traffic lights changing or railroad barriers dropping, or other vehicles stopping and/or turning in front of us.
One interesting side bar to this cell phone debate is that police officers utilize hand held microphones in their daily patrols and even in a pursuit situations. These same officers, should cell phone legislation be enacted, will write tickets for yacking and driving using, in effect, the identical technology as the driver receiving the ticket! A credibility gap, perhaps?
Banning cellphones of any design will not reduce vehicle crashes and collisions. Concentrating on the complex task of driving and keeping all distractions such as chomping on a burger, sipping a piping hot Timmy's, taming a back seat conflict or an animated discussion with a passenger to a minimum will contribute more significantly.
It will reduce your stress behind the wheel and definitely reduce the anger of fellow motorists who watch in horror as you bob and weave from lane to lane, dab the brakes unnecessarily or make dramatic turns at the last minute without signaling because you are catching up on your stock portfolio, dealing with a recalcitrant child, lining up your next call or making cozy talk with a special friend.
Take a few minutes to stop at the side of the road (remember the four-way flashers) or pull into an appropriate parking lot to ingest calories, straighten out the kids, find the CD in the glove box or make your next appointment.
A slogan used in drivers' ed in years past: make sure brain is engaged before slipping car into gear (be it Drive or 1st) still applies. Reduce your mental overload and stress level and concentrate on the driving task. You might discover your fellow motorists are not out to get you or cause you any grief. You might even reach your destination with lower blood pressure and a clearer mind to deal with your next task.
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