Showing posts with label traffic safety culture. Show all posts

Your Eyes Are on the Road and Hands Are on the Wheel -- but Where's Your Head?

Posted by Unknown in , , , , on Wednesday, June 12, 2013


Do you think that using a hands-free device is the safe alternative to driving while holding your phone or fidgeting with your car’s controls? If so, you’re not alone. Our latest safety culture index survey found that 71 percent of U.S. drivers think hands-free devices are safer than their hand-held counterparts, and more than half of American motorists who routinely use speech-based in-vehicle systems (e.g., stereo, navigation, text/email, etc.) do not believe these technologies are at all distracting.

Today, however, the AAA Foundation is challenging these perceptions with brand-new research on mental distractions, and the suppressed brain activity and impaired driving performance of motorists who are engaged in cognitively-demanding tasks – even when they keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

Conducted at the University of Utah, this study utilized a combination of brainwave activity measures, driving performance indicators, and other assessments, and analyzed participants in a laboratory, driving simulator, and instrumented vehicle as they completed six common tasks: listening to the radio, listening to a book on tape, conversing with a passenger, conversing on a hand-held phone, conversing on a hands-free phone, and interacting with a speech-to-text email system. Researchers then created a rating scale that ranks these tasks according to how much mental distraction they cause, and the findings may surprise you.

It is perhaps reassuring that listening to the radio or a book on tape create only minor increases in cognitive workload above the baseline, “non-distracted” condition. Much more troubling, however, is the fact that phone conversations (whether hand-held or hands-free) and voice-based interactions with in-vehicle systems create significant levels of cognitive distraction, as demonstrated by suppressed brain activity, slowed reaction times, missed visual cues, and reduced visual scanning of the driving environment (think tunnel vision). Keep in mind that these degradations were found even though drivers kept their eyes on the road and, with the exception of the hand-held phone task, their hands on the wheel.

Succinctly put: “hands-free” doesn’t mean “risk free.”

This seemingly-simple conclusion has broad implications that give all of us a great deal to consider. For example, more than half of American motorists think that hands-free device use while driving is acceptable (while two thirds say hand-held devices are unacceptable). The perception that “hands-free” is the safe way to go may also help to explain the proliferation of speech-based in-vehicle technologies and infotainment systems. Though shipments of these systems are expected to skyrocket in the coming years, use of speech-to-text communications presented the highest level of cognitive distraction of all the tasks we analyzed. This suggests there is much work to be done to ensure that these systems do not interfere with the safe operation of motor vehicles.    

This is an issue that we will continue to study, and we hope you will take some time to learn about cognitive distraction and how it may impact your driving. Please visit www.traffic-payout.org and newsroom.aaa.com to learn more, and remember the three keys to attentive driving: eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, mind on the task.

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Pedestrians and Cars

Posted by Unknown in , , , , on Tuesday, July 17, 2012


When it comes to traffic safety, “man versus machine” is not an inspiring story.  If a ton or more of metal traveling at high speed collides with a person, the person nearly always loses the match-up.  That’s one of the reasons why car crashes rank among the leading causes of death in the United States.

Speed plays a big role in determining the risk of severe injury or death when a car hits a pedestrian.  A recent AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study showed that the risk of a person dying from being hit by a car increases from 10 percent when the car is going 23 mph to 90 percent when the car is going 58 mph.

Injury rates are on a similar curve:  A pedestrian hit by a car moving at 16 mph has about a 10 percent chance of being injured; this increases to 90 percent when a car is going 46 mph. 

The AAA Foundation and its partners want to see those injury and fatality rates decline, reflecting a safer environment for all road users.  As a society, we can make that happen by reducing the risks of crashes occurring and reducing the risk of severe or fatal outcomes when crashes do take place.

Reducing speeds, especially in areas with a lot of pedestrian traffic, is a high priority.  Road designs that incorporate traffic calming, such as speed bumps, narrow lanes, and bends that force cars to slow down can all be effective tools. 

Features that keep cars and pedestrians apart, from sidewalks to pedestrian walkways, also help avoid crashes.  Traffic signals timed with pedestrians in mind can reduce encounters between vehicles and pedestrians, too.

But, as always, the fastest and easiest way to reduce crashes lies with you.  When you’re behind the wheel, share the road with pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users.  Slow down in areas where you know you may encounter pedestrians, including around schools, shopping centers, and offices.  And, pay attention.  In the second or two you look away to change the radio station or reset the GPS, a pedestrian can dart into the street in front of you with no warning.

When you’re a pedestrian, stay off the road when possible and monitor the traffic around you, so you can assess the risks you face.  Never assume that just because you can see vehicles  they can see you.

When traffic safety becomes a priority that everyone in our society values and pursues, all road users win.  And that’s a very inspiring story.

For more information on how you can become a safer road user, visit www.traffic-payout.org. 

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