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AAA study: Little benefit to hands-free laws
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* AAA’s research unit has finished studying various forms of distracted driving. The methodology…
The first experiment served as a control in which participants performed eight different tasks without the concurrent operation of a motor vehicle. In the second experiment, participants performed the same eight tasks while operating a high fidelity driving simulator. In the third experiment, participants performed the eight tasks while driving an instrumented vehicle in a residential section of a city.
In each experiment, the tasks involved 1) a baseline single-task condition (i.e., no concurrent secondary task), 2) concurrent listening to a radio, 3) concurrent listening to a book on tape, 4) concurrent conversation with a passenger seated next to the participant, 5) concurrent conversation on a hand-held cell phone, 6) concurrent conversation on a hands-free cell phone, 7) concurrent interaction with a speech-to-text interfaced e-mail system, and 
concurrent performance with an auditory version of the Operation Span (OSPAN) task. Each task allows the driver to keep his or her eyes on the road and, with the exception of the hand-held cell phone condition, hands on the steering wheel, so any impairment to driving must stem from cognitive sources associated with the diversion of attention from the task of operating the motor vehicle. […]
The OSPAN task is a complex span task developed by Turner and Engle (Turner & Engle, 1989) that requires participants to simultaneously perform a math and memorization task. It was chosen to anchor the highest level of cognitive workload.
* AAA then developed a rating system. Non-distracted single-task was at one end and the OSPAN was at the other. The results…
In-vehicle activities such as listening to the radio (1.21) or an audio book (1.75) were associated with a small increase in cognitive distraction, the conversation activities of talking to a passenger in the vehicle (2.33) or conversing with a friend on a hand-held (2.45) or hands-free cell phone (2.27) were associated with a moderate increase in cognitive distraction, and the speech-to-text condition (3.06) had a large cognitive distraction rating.
* The chart…
* The coverage…
But talking on a hands-free phone isn’t significantly safer for drivers than talking on a hand-held phone, and using hands-free devices that translate speech into text is the most distracting of all, researchers reported in a study released Wednesday. Speech-to-text systems that enable drivers to send, scroll through, or delete email and text messages required greater concentration by drivers than other potentially distracting activities examined in the study like talking on the phone, talking to a passenger, listening to a book on tape or listening to the radio.
The greater the concentration required to perform a task, the more likely a driver is to develop what researchers call “tunnel vision” or “inattention blindness.” Drivers will stop scanning the roadway or ignore their side and rearview mirrors. Instead, they look straight ahead, but fail to see what’s in front of them, like red lights and pedestrians.
“People aren’t seeing what they need to see to drive. That’s the scariest part to me,” said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the group’s safety research arm. “Police accident investigative reports are filled with comments like the ‘looked, but did not see.’ That’s what drivers tell them. We used to think they were lying, but now we know that’s actually true.”
There are about 9 million cars and trucks on the road with infotainment systems, and that will jump to about 62 million vehicles by 2018, AAA spokeswoman Yolanda Cade said, citing automotive industry research. At the same time, drivers tell the AAA they believe phones and other devices are safe to use behind the wheel if they are hands-free, she said.
“We believe there is a public safety crisis looming,” Cade said. “We hope this study will change some widely held misconceptions by motorists.”
* If this study is accurate, then legislators who voted this spring to ban hand-held cell phone use in cars might also want to ban drivers from talking to their passengers.
All snark aside, I personally find talking on the phone far more distracting than conversing with a passenger. And with a hands-free device, I don’t have to worry about dropping the phone mid-conversation, which can be a huge distraction.
And voice-enabled texting/e-mailing ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Siri often screws up my texts, so I find myself trying to correct them by hand, which may actually be more dangerous than just typing the texts myself from the start.
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:36 am
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Rich said,
“And voice-enabled texting/e-mailing ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Siri often screws up my texts, so I find myself trying to correct them by hand, which may actually be more dangerous than just typing the texts myself from the start.”
An experiment you performed in your driveway because no way were you breaking the law by doing this while driving!
Comment by Cincinnatus Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:44 am
I’m surprised by the closeness of the distraction level between phone and passenger. I’d expect less looking away, closer to radio/book on tape level. Plus a passenger can tell you when you’re coming up on something.
Comment by In 630 Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:47 am
And the passenger is an extra set of eyes compared to the phone. I am guilty myself at times of not being fully attentive due to the smartphone.
However, as a bicyclist, it often scares me to be out there with all the distractions at hand. I definitely try to ride with larger groups more just for the visibility. Hope there is a good answer out there that works.
Comment by Shemp Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:49 am
It just shows that distracted driving is the problem, not which specific things distract you. Most people drive fine with one hand on the wheel when they’re not distracted. Eating, changing radio stations, yelling at your kids in the back seat, these are the kinds of distractions that are troublesome, yet we can’t and shouldn’t outlaw each specific instance.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:53 am
hands free and no texting were very very smart laws especially since the majority of texts/emails, and phone calls from cars are made by younger drivers. I would have also put language into the bill that drivers who’ve had more than 2 violations over a year span or drivers under 22 are forbidden from using hands free. Putting a distracted 18 year old behind an suv is just not smart.
Comment by shore Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:55 am
In full disclosure I work for AAA and wanted to offer a couple of clarification points. First, our research is not suggesting that there are little benefits to hands-free laws. Our research looked at various activities in the car and gauged how mentally distracting they are for drivers. Through this research, we are trying to make clear that hands-free is not risk free and in fact, many of these hands-free technologies (that have been marketed as safe) are dangerous to use while driving. Also, the passengers in our study did not interact with drivers as they normally would. In ‘real life’ passengers can be of some assistance because they can serve as another set of eyes on the road and moderate their behavior based on driving conditions.
Comment by Beth Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:57 am
Another darn for the day. Now someone will look at this Cognitive Distraction Scale and try and ban passengers. While there are times when this might come in handy because I don’t want to her from some passengers - recalling one particular long trip with my mother-in-law, my wife still needs me to drive her around.
This shows the need to educate the public about distractions and urge caution. People who are not cautious should be dealt with in a civil action or via insurance sanctions. Criminalizing (tickets …) the use of devices is not an acceptable approach IMHO.
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:57 am
I agree with 47th Ward. We can see those who are distracted by the weaving. Texting is probably the worst of all. If an accident occurs and the cops can prove you were texting the fines/punishment should be enhanced to a painful point, especially if injuries (or worse) occur.
Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:58 am
Oops - “hear from some passengers”
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 10:58 am
I’m mystified by Metra’s decision to always stop in the middle of nowhere during a storm. I understand that you can’t simply barrel forward and into the storm. But as someone who has been stuck on “stopped for severe weather” Metra trains several times over the past few years, I’m not sure I’m safe in a tin can while winds and rain whipped around me.
I don’t know a solution — but stopping for 90 minutes (as was the case last night) in the middle of what was billed as the “potentially very severe set of weather circumstances” (according to the NOAA) — doesn’t seem prudent.
What’s weirder, of course, is that Metra often stays stopped long after the storms have passed. Sorta just frozen to the spot in the middle of freight yards or in fields or along side of an expressway.
It’s weird. Metra continues to be weird. A necessary weird — but after the guy in charge of Metra through himself in front of a Metra, it’s been a slow decline of weird.
Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 11:05 am
I mean “threw himself” not “through himself”.
Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 11:07 am
Bring on the robot cars. Drunks, distracted, texters - not a problem with automation.
Comment by Happy Returns Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 11:17 am
The $4000 autonomous car will make these studies obsolete. http://www.autoblog.com/2013/05/21/student-wins-intel-science-fair-with-super-cheap-autonomous-car/
Comment by Chavez-respecting Obamist Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 11:18 am
Anybody who argues with Siri while driving needs professional intervention. Not sure what profession.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 11:45 am
Speaker Madigan may be the safest driver in Illinois.
Comment by Century Club Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 11:55 am
My passenger certainly sees everything…and tells me about it.
You’re going too fast.
You’re following too close.
The turn is right there.
You need to get over now.
Comment by titan Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 12:00 pm
shore
While I agree fully that texting while driving is dangerous, I’m not sure the law banning it is of much value. When the law was passed, I noted to my wife that many drivers would just put the phone below window level or even on their laps, thus moving their eyes even further from the road. I have since observed this exact behavior more often than not.
As usual, laws don’t eliminate bad and/or dangerous behavior.
Comment by ProblemChild21 Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 1:32 pm
Isn’t the headline:
Talking on the phone is no more distracting than talking to a passenger?
Cell phones have gone from non-existent to ubiquitous over the last 20 years. If they are as dangerous as the headlines indicate, shouldn’t traffic accident rates have soared?
Sure enough, according to the NHTSA fatalities per million miles driven have skyrocketed from 2.1 in 1990 to 1.1 in 2010.
Oh wait, that is a 45% decline. Maybe cell phones are not the instruments of death that news reports suggest.
Comment by Restaurant CFO Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 2:46 pm
I have always felt that hands free phones were just as bad if not worse than a hand held cell phone. Time to focus enforcement on the increasing number of texting drivers. They are truly scary.
Comment by wishbone Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 2:48 pm
The only accident I’ve been in that was my fault in the last 25 years, I was texting while driving.
As a pedestrian and a cyclist, I have had many near misses with people on cell phones. I don’t fear having a passenger in the car talking to the driver the way I fear someone actively using a mobile phone.
I suspect that b/c the subjects were part of a study they were concentrating more than people who use these devices in real life.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 3:10 pm
@Carl Nyberg,
Depends on the length of the study. The feds have also done some distracted driving research, with in-car cameras and such, and some of the testimony on driver behavior was that, initially, people would be have cautiously as you say, but after a few days they would get acclimated to the presence of the devices and go about their business as usual, with sometimes frightening results.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 4:07 pm
There was a study I saw this past Spring that indicated higher accident rates for folks talking on cell phones while they drive (hands-on and hands-free were essentially the same). The interesting exception was that the study also found LOWER accident rates for folks talking on cell phones when driving on rural interstate highways. My guess was that the phone conversation helped keep drivers from going into that long distance trance.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 4:54 pm
Apparently the General Assembly once again ignored the research in crafting the policy. The ban on hand-held technology reinforces the myth that hands-free is safe.
Comment by reformer Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 5:05 pm
Amen, AAA! So it’s JUST BAREly over .1 more of a distraction to converse on a hand-HELD cell phone than in a car than it is to just actually TALK TO someone else IN that car–whoa!–now that’s a whoppin’, overwhelmingly sigNIFicant increase in distraction so that our anti-Liberterian LEGislature feels so self-righteous and above all of us regular, common folk, which happens to include reSPONsible Adult drivers who might have to use their cell phone for 30 seconds to say, oh–Gasp-HANDS FREE!–call one’s spouse driving on the way home, merely to see if he or his wife is picking their child up at the school after play practice–because we’re HUman and actually forgot to discuss it earlier in the day while a LAND-line may’ve been available at work (Heavens,yes, some places still USE those!) but God (and Illinois now, too, apparently, if the Gov. no doubt signs it) FORBID such a horribly dangerous act to one’s family and society from happening–no, such horrendously, supremely dangerous acts against mankind MUST be outright BANNED and such a criminal as myself be issued a Traffic Citation, and compelled to pay what, maybe $120 or some paltry, minimal (yeah right) fee for how dare I so seriously endanger the lives of all others around me with such a heinous act!!! I.E…what a Joke!!
FInally, instead, a sound and reliable Study that plainly shows, ultimately, how OVER-rated the bill the Legislature just unfortunately passed TO so BAN hand-held Cell Phone use in a moving vehicle by responsible adults IS…! HATS OFF at least, to the AAA, for a fine, reasonable, and meaningful Study, which shows how too often a State Legislature can rush to judgment about some latest “sexy” subject of the year or time we live in to pass an unnecessary and overly-restrictive bill to make Citizens’ lives more complicated and regulated in what can be simple, yet important, daily behavior–like making a quick but important and needed call to your wife in your car to do some good, and yet have to experience my own Legislature needlessly force people to take AWAY such an unobtrusive, simple freedom like MAKing such occasional cell phone calls in my moving car while it’s actually doing what it’s supposed to be doing when I’m trying to actually GET somewhere important to me, RESPONSIBLY and CAREfully, plus force us to HAVE to spend more money I may not have much of, on PURchasing and learning how to fumble around and awkwardly use unnecessary, cluttering “head-set” or other annoying devices that–as the Study points out in REALITY–make virtually NO difference to one’s safety…! Like Rich said, they may as well go ahead and altogether ban ever even TALKING TO anyone else in your car then, too, while they’re at it, based on this noteworthy study–which should cause SOMEbody to pause and take notice…but will it? Don’t count on that!
Hrumph–there, so I’ve said my piece again, and barked aloud with my dang Keyboard, which of course will make virtually no difference but to appease that small streak of Liberterian in me, and in each of us that must of necessity rise to the surface once in awhile and compels us to use a lot of words to basically scream out “NOOOOOO…!” And then nothing changes and they go ahead and do it anyhow….
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 5:33 pm
Dear AAA, can you please start working on all the car squeezing that is going on around Chicagoland? the thought of narrowing streets to one lane, when we often need more than two, to “calm” traffic and make for room for bike lanes is making my package toting car and me quite nervous that our life of cars and mass transit existing together in our city in danger.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jun 13, 13 @ 8:12 pm