"We are our own worst enemy,” says Just.
Research by Carnegie Mellon University’s Marcel Just shows that simply listening to someone speak on the other end of a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%, compared to driving alone. The decrease in available brain resources can cause drivers to commit the same type of driving errors that can occur under the influence of alcohol.
The CMU research supports calls by a growing number of safety advocates, government regulators, insurance companies and drivers for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text message devices while driving. Just’s research shows that making cell phones hands-free or voice-activated is not sufficient in eliminating distraction to drivers.
The National Transportation Safety Board today recommended that states enact bans on all non-emergency use of cell phones and portable electronic devices by motorists. NTSB came to its recommendation after investigating a multi-vehicle crash in Missouri that involved a driver who was texting. The crash killed two people and injured 38 including children in two school buses.
Just, a leading neuroscientist used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study participants in a driving simulator. When they were listening to a sentence, they were more likely to weave in their lane than when they were driving undisturbed.
“Banning the use of cell phones by drivers in non-emergency situations could be another dramatic step forward in further reducing the unacceptably high levels of driving-related fatalities in the U.S., which is most recently at about 33,000 people killed annually,” Just says.
“While recent improvements in automobile safety equipment have made an enormous contribution, it remains to make improvements in the most important factor, driver performance, and to save thousands of additional lives per year. We are our own worst enemy.”
Another study from Just’s laboratory showed that subjects could not willfully ignore someone speaking to them; the processing of a spoken message was so automatic that it could not be “gated out,” and continued to affect the brain activation associated with a second concurrent task. This study shows the dangers of cell phone use by drivers cannot be overcome by strategically controlling one’s attention.
“Drivers need to keep not only their hands on the wheel; they also have to keep their brains on the road,” Just says. “The clear implication of our work is that engaging in a conversation could jeopardize the judgment and reaction time if an atypical or unusual driving situation arose. Driving in quick-moving traffic is no place for an involved phone discussion, let alone texting.”
The National Safety Council estimates 1.3 million crashes, or 23 percent of all crashes, involve distracted drivers using cell phones. “Quantifying crashes and fatalities involving cell phone use while driving is challenging due to several factors such as a driver’s unwillingness to admit the behavior and lack of witnesses. Additionally, cell phone use currently is not consistently captured on police reports. We are able to develop an estimate of crashes based on risk and exposure, but the problem could be much larger than we estimate,” says Janet Froetscher, president and CEO.
Good stuff. Keep it coming. Listening to my wife reduces my brain activity by 40%!! Listening to Obama on the radio totally numbs my brain. What would Just have us do? The trouble with this type of research is it is so narrow and while may be statistically correct, offers no alternatives. This research gives the government another reason to further neuter the automobile.