Driving has become second nature to humans, especially experienced drivers. This, however, makes it much easier for drivers to take their attention off of the road and focus on something else. From passengers, to eating food, to using a cell phone, all are distractions that get in the way of driving. After reading articles, watching videos, and doing my own observations on distracted driving I was surprised by how easy it has become to be distracted while driving.
Advancements in technology have played a huge role in distracted driving. Now not only can we be distracted by things such as eating and drinking, but we can be distracted by talking or texting on a cell phone or even using GPS or playing music from a phone (Drews, Yazdani, Godfrey, …show more content…
People texting and driving were also involved in more crashes than those not distracted. “Text messaging not only requires central attentional processing but also requires additional focusing on the phone during the process of composing or reading messages” (Drews et al., 2009, p.764). It makes sense that texting impairs driving because when a person is texting their brain is focused on something other than driving. According to Text Messaging During Simulated Driving journal, people can process up to 50% less information when they are distracted (Drews et al., 2009). Processing information is vital when you are driving and your surroundings or situation could change in an instant. In addition to processing information slower, people are 0.2 seconds slower when responding to braking when they are texting and driving versus driving alone (Drews et al., 2009). When people process things slower, it takes them longer to respond to a situation which can have negative results when driving. Finally, this study found that drivers are in fact aware of the risk of texting and driving, which explains an increased following distance when texting and driving, however, this an increased following distance does not decrease crash risk (Drews et al., 2009). People …show more content…
I try to not look at my phone until I am at a stop but occasionally I do text and drive knowing that I am not supposed to. I now realize that I need to be fully aware of my surroundings, even when I am stopped. In addition to that, I should be aware of other people that are texting and driving. Even if I am fully focused on driving, someone else might not be and I need to pay attention to that in order to avoid something bad from happening. The study and videos have made me realize how important it is to have your full attention on the road, and that is something that I am now going to work on when I am driving by simply putting my phone away or turning it off.
Distracted driving is something that should be taken very seriously. I have learned a lot about distracted driving after reading articles, watching videos, and through first hand observations. I feel as if people know distracted driving is bad but are unaware of how the brain is impacted. Making people aware of the psychological impact of distracted driving could make people rethink their behavior. In turn, that would help save many lives and prevent all the bad things that are caused by driving
Advancements in technology have played a huge role in distracted driving. Now not only can we be distracted by things such as eating and drinking, but we can be distracted by talking or texting on a cell phone or even using GPS or playing music from a phone (Drews, Yazdani, Godfrey, …show more content…
People texting and driving were also involved in more crashes than those not distracted. “Text messaging not only requires central attentional processing but also requires additional focusing on the phone during the process of composing or reading messages” (Drews et al., 2009, p.764). It makes sense that texting impairs driving because when a person is texting their brain is focused on something other than driving. According to Text Messaging During Simulated Driving journal, people can process up to 50% less information when they are distracted (Drews et al., 2009). Processing information is vital when you are driving and your surroundings or situation could change in an instant. In addition to processing information slower, people are 0.2 seconds slower when responding to braking when they are texting and driving versus driving alone (Drews et al., 2009). When people process things slower, it takes them longer to respond to a situation which can have negative results when driving. Finally, this study found that drivers are in fact aware of the risk of texting and driving, which explains an increased following distance when texting and driving, however, this an increased following distance does not decrease crash risk (Drews et al., 2009). People …show more content…
I try to not look at my phone until I am at a stop but occasionally I do text and drive knowing that I am not supposed to. I now realize that I need to be fully aware of my surroundings, even when I am stopped. In addition to that, I should be aware of other people that are texting and driving. Even if I am fully focused on driving, someone else might not be and I need to pay attention to that in order to avoid something bad from happening. The study and videos have made me realize how important it is to have your full attention on the road, and that is something that I am now going to work on when I am driving by simply putting my phone away or turning it off.
Distracted driving is something that should be taken very seriously. I have learned a lot about distracted driving after reading articles, watching videos, and through first hand observations. I feel as if people know distracted driving is bad but are unaware of how the brain is impacted. Making people aware of the psychological impact of distracted driving could make people rethink their behavior. In turn, that would help save many lives and prevent all the bad things that are caused by driving