(Jim Wilson/The New York Times)Is a car the right place for multitasking?
A graphic on the front page of USA Today shows that most people believe it is. The newspaper reports on a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance showing that 72 percent of drivers say they do other things while driving, like using a cell phone, eating or drinking.
Nearly 80 percent of people 18 to 44 say they multitask in the car. The numbers are slightly lower for the young and old. About 60 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds admit to multitasking, while 65 percent of adults 45 to 61 say they do it.
A few years ago the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near crashes. They found that nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. According to the agency:
The most common distraction for drivers is the use of cell phones. However, the number of crashes and near-crashes attributable to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening. Dialing is more dangerous but occurs less often than talking or listening.
Reaching for a moving object increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by 9 times; looking at an external object by 3.7 times; reading by 3 times; applying makeup by 3 times; dialing a hand-held device (typically a cell phone) by almost 3 times; and talking or listening on a hand-held device by 1.3 times.
More recently, National Public Radio conducted its own multitasking experiment. Instead of putting a driver on the road, they put a professional pianist through a series of multitasking experiments.
A musician like Jacob Frasch has a lot in common with an experienced driver. Both can do a complex task that has become automatic while carrying on a simple conversation.
For over an hour, we tasked Frasch with playing a range of pieces, some he knew and some he had to sight-read. While he was playing, we asked him to multitask. Sometimes the additional work was simple. For instance, Frasch has no trouble talking about his childhood while playing a Bach minuet. But when the challenges took more brain power, it was tougher for Frasch to answer questions and play the piano at the same time.
You can listen to the nine-minute segment or read about it on NPR’s Web site.
Most people, myself included, are guilty of multitasking while driving, whether it’s drinking a cup of coffee, handing a tissue to a child or talking on the phone. So while the survey results aren’t particularly surprising, it is a good reminder that if you are talking on the cell phone or scolding your kid, other drivers probably are equally distracted. At the very least, it makes sense to put down the coffee and get off the phone so you are better prepared to get out of their way if you need to.
“If you’re driving while cell-phoning, then your performance is going to be as poor as if you were legally drunk,” David Meyer, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, told NPR.
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From 1 to 25 of 83 Comments
Multiasking in the car is here to stay. There are hundreds of tasks that are done in the car.
Since we can’t, and should NOT legislate against all of them, the best way to handle it is common sense.
If the traffic is intense, minimize the dialing, eating, scolding, etc. When it eases out a bit, we can carefully ramp up our multitasking.
— jackIf your performance driving while talking on a cell phone is going to be as poor as if you were legally drunk, then why isn’t there a federal law banning it?
— Rubén AbruñaSome states prohibit it but most don’t. I guess the cell phone companies have lobbied hard against banning it.
Listen, you can talk to people about not multi-tasking while driving until you are blue in the face but it is not going to change until our car culture changes.
We spend hours in the car, often every day. We live far from our work, school and play. This is all considered normal. Our country is paved over from coast to coast, despite the environmental consequences and increasing asthma, not to mention the thousands who die every year in accidents.
If people continue to live their lives during the many hours they spend in the car, why should we be surprised?
— rini10Government ought to establish severe punishments for people who multitask while driving, especially talking on phone, and then forcefully enforce the laws. These people put others security in jeopardy.
— AAAAACell phones I can do without on the road. But I’d be safer yet if I could avoid parenting while driving…..
— anneI do not regularly talk on the phone in the car during my 45 minute commute home (and never on my somewhat shorter commute to work because it’s at 6:00 a.m.), but I have a built-in handsfree device for those times that I do.
I must say I have found it somewhat unnerving on those times when I have concluded a call of, say, 10 or 15 minutes and I have precious little recollection of having been driving during that time. I can only hope I had not been driving like one of those oblivious sorts plodding along in the far left lane 15 mph under the speed limit with a phone pressed to the ear.
As rini10 mentioned, none of this will change until our car culture changes. But I do not see this happening any time soon. Even in those forward looking areas that have seen the need for light rail to ease commuting burdens, the populace is generally unwilling to shoulder the costs of putting such a system in place, particularly given the state of the economy. And as for moving from my suburban (almost exurban) abode to a more transit friendly area, that won’t happen anytime soon, either. Like millions of others, the value of my home has dropped drastically, and I am stuck there for many, many years to come.
— James W.The solution is simple, at least for the cell phone issue. No law against it, but in the event of an accident - even a fender-bender - the cell phone records of both/all drivers involved are subpoena’d. If the cell phone is proven to have been in the car (either as a regular or built-in phone) and in use at the time of the accident, the driver is presumed to have been involved in its use no matter who else was in the car, and the phone is presumed to have contributed to the accident. Points on license, mandatory stiff insurance surcharge. Period. If the darn things are as safe as the compulsive chatterers maintain, then there shouldn’t be a problem, because there won’t be accidents, right?
I recall another study (wish I had the citation) indicating that cell phone chatting is more dangerous than conversation with a flesh-and-blood passenger, because the passenger can say “hey, watch out,” whereas the guy on the other end of the line can’t offer his own observation to compensate for the driver’s distraction.
— ACWQuestion: do various collections of traffic laws include a statue addressing ‘negligent driving’ - that is, driving practices which endanger oneself as well as others who happen to be sharing the road?
— FireflyIf the answer is ‘yes’, then such statutes seem the logical tool to apply to, for instance, the problem of people using mobile phones/Blackberries while driving.
I couldn’t agree more with -AAAAA’s comment. I live in Philadelphia and not a day goes by that I am not nearly hit by somebody chatting away on their cell phone. All of the studies show that Cell use is as dangerous as driving drunk, so why isn’t the governement stepping in and putting a stop to it. Most major cities have laws against drinking and chatting, but no one seems to enforce them. If we want to get serious about driving safety then these cell phone laws have to not only passed across the country, but enforced with vigor.
— SeanI think there’s a big difference between talking on a cell phone (which I never do) and drinking a drink (which I almost always do). When I’m stuck in LA traffic for 2 hours, I get a little parched, and reaching for my Diet Coke is less distracting than listening to my stomach growl.
FROM TPP — I would argue there is even a difference between water or soda from a bottle and hot coffee.
— sarahmasFor you people who think it is fine to multitask, what do you say to a parent who has lost a child to this monstrous habit? How would you feel if you killed someone? Multitaskers, there is NEVER a good time to do it. The unexpected can happen anywhere, anytime! Stop being so selfish and putting others at risk.
— alex@jack
As a daily bicycle commuter, I beg, no plead, for drivers to cease the multitasking and focus on the road and those cars, bicycles, pedestrians, and other folks that they share it with. To you its a dropped call, smeared eye-liner, or some taco sauce on your shirt. To me its broken bones, paralysis, or my life. Just ask Dr. Farrar:
http://www.velonews.com/article/84507
I’m sure you can reach him in his room at the hospital.
“…the driver dropped a clipboard onto the floor of the car and took his eyes off the road to reach for it when he hit Farrar.”
I’m sure the driver rationalized his choice as you suggest - “I can pick this up, there’s not much traffic…” So yes, please, use common sense. You’re piloting a 2,000 pound wrecking ball. A little focus would be appreciated.
— bonxieI don’t multitask while driving.
But I well might be the one killed by someone who is drunk or distracted. Or my wife be die, or my daughter might be the one killed on the road.
I hope your phone call was that important.
— Old McDonaldPeople who think they can multitask and drive safely are being willfully ignorant - I hesitate to say “stupid” because obviously most of them are intelligent enough to realize it isn’t a good thing to do, but ignorant enough to think that the risks don’t apply to them.
I think the real impact of inattentive drivers is on traffic - I mean, yeah, it’s tragic when people lose their lives on the road but your garden-variety commute-time accident, without death or serious injury, still has great consequences for traffic congestion (I live in the Seattle area). If one were to calculate the economic cost to a region resulting from thousands of people stuck in traffic because of one dumb kid’s fender-bender because they were texting while trying to drive, criminal charges could (ostensibly) be considered. I say make the penalties for causing “distracted driving” accidents financially punitive and maybe this kind of selfish and irresponsible behavior would start to decrease.
— Jim CThis is why I ride transit. You’ll frequently find me eating, responding to e-mail, reading, or (occasionally) quietly chatting on my phone on the bus ride to and from work. I’m too busy to spend my commutes sitting in traffic behind the wheel of a car. I have little sympathy for multitasking drivers in areas with decent transit access. Need to do something else on your ride to work? Take the train or the bus.
— Ross#12. And you, the cycler, don’t ever reach for a drink of water while cycling, wipe your brow or glasses, reach back to prevent your bundle from flying off the carrier, wipe grease off your leg, etc, etc???
I’ve seen this done before, and these swerving cyclists have caused accidents with cars trying to avoid them.
Bottom line is there is no way to completely eliminate the multitasking, let’s face it. Common sense as to timing is essential to eliminate the negative impact as much as possible.
— jackThanks, bonxie, for bringing a cyclist’s perspective into this. We use the road, too. And despite what some people think, that’s where we’re supposed to be.
And jack, I’m so concerned with anticipating what stupid drivers are going to do I have no time to “multitask” on my bike. As if someone who’s older than 8 can’t wipe their sweaty face and keep control of their bike.
— CarolynIn New York State a year or so ago, six teenage girls were killed in a car accident while the driver of the car was text-messaging.
— bethTwo of our neighbors were severely injured, in separate incidents, by drivers who were yakking on cellphones instead of paying attention to their driving.
In Arlington, VA, some years ago, a husband was driving while talking to his wife on his cellphone; she was at home, and heard the crash that killed him while he was talking to her on the phone.
Why don’t people have the common sense to drive responsibly, paying full time and attention to their driving, as laws in every state require? Do people leave their consciences somewhere else while driving?
Stiff financial fines and penalties could help solve this reckless behavior, and long prison sentences should be given to any driver who causes death or severe injury to anyone, because of inattentive, negligent, reckless driving.
Multitasking and driving simply don’t mix!
Sleep deprivation is also incredibly dangerous, and gets less attention than multitasking. Maybe there should be another article about that.
— alex@jack,
I will admit to taking a drink from my water bottle (hot tea, actually, now that its a bit chilly) while moving from time to time, but I certainly don’t do so while driving my bike in traffic. I do that only when waiting at a stop light. If I do so while moving, its because I’m on a multi-use bike/pedestrian path. And yes, sometimes I have to ‘adjust’ something - a loose item on my rack, an open zipper on a backpack, whatever. I pull over and do it, and then get back into traffic.
I won’t deny other cyclists do it. There are scofflaw cyclists, there are scofflaw drivers. Both are culpable. I ask both to cease such multi-tasking.
I do think drivers carry greater responsibility, simply because a car driving mistake is inherintly dangerous and can easily kill or maim an innocent victim. The risk of the same is almost non-existant for innocent victims of a cycling mistake, or a pedestrian mistake.
It not until I got on the road (on my bike) that I understood this. I’m a completely different car driver since I’ve started cycling. You should try riding a bike with car drivers like you. You’ll change, too. Getting your elbow clipped by the rear-view mirror of a car driven by someone who’s in cell-phone land will make you a believer. But I’m sure that call was important…
— bonxieObviously, there is a significant distinction between talking on the phone while in traffic jam and driving fast at night time in the rain.
So, I believe it is nearly impossible to create universal law that prohibits all kinds of multitasking activities and ultimately we still have to use common sense.
— Pavel CherkasovIf you define multitasking as dividing attention between two more more tasks, then everyone multitasks while driving. Even if you say you do not (#13). Talking on the phone, talking with a passenger, changing the stations/CD, arguing with Rush Limbaugh, wiping your nose, smoking, opening a window, reading a billboard, drinking coffee, looking at your GPS, picking up change for a toll, singing, putting on sunglasses, handing a snack to a child, etc. will all divert some attention.
That said, some tasks are more demanding. Operating a blackberry or an iPhone is a cognitively demanding task and should be avoided. So is using an iPod or programming a GPS. Also, since driving involves primarily visuospatial and motor skills, less interference will be caused if the secondary (non-driving) task is primarily auditory and/or verbal. Cell phone use is still problematic, though, because the conversant on the other end is unaware of local conditions in the car (as a passenger would be)
I once saw a woman eating oatmeal out of an actual china bowl. She’d hold the bowl in her one hand and eat with the other at a stop light and then set it down to drive. This was the worst I have every seen. I was diverting my attention watching her commit this atrocity
— John PaulI can’t recall how many times I have seen someone run a red light, drift over the line or in some other way commit a driving error only to see them fiddling with their phone/blackberry. I don’t think everyone and every situation is created equal; the level of concentration to thread through midtown traffic is much higher than what you’d need on an interstate highway, not that it stops anyone.
I’ll admit I’ve multitasked while behind the wheel on many occasions. It tends not to be the phone though, as I have been accused of being inattentive to my phone conversations while driving (imagine that!).
Like DWI, the business interests will continue to lobby and people will continue to die. I suppose one day cars (or whatever personal transport will be) will pilot themselves leaving everyone with plenty of time to talk about last nights episode of Desperate Housewives.
— Peter, NYC#16. The difference is that the multitaskers in the car are driving 2,000 pound weapons that have a much greater likelihood of killing someone. And wiping sweat off your brow is hardly the same as dialing and chattering away on a cell phone. I read an article awhile ago (don’t have the citation, sorry) about people who actually TEXTED while driving. It took some near misses and non-misses before some of them figured out it wasn’t the best idea. I like Ross’s idea to take the train or bus if you don’t have time to focus on your driving.
— AndreaMore important that focusing on “abnormal” activities that make us unsafe is to focus on the “normal” activities that make us unsafe. This article came closer to that mark than any of the others I’ve yet seen on the subject, yet still in my estimation misses an important point: improving on one’s driving skills and then using those skill assertively no matter what the situation is going to make more impact on your overall safety on the road than putting down that cell phone. This is the message that people don’t want to hear–there is no single action somebody-else’s-problem simple fix.
So, what can you do to lower your base risk? Don’t drive greatly faster or slower than traffic arround you (if you are the only car going 30 in a 65 zone it may be time to find an exit). Don’t drive faster than the road is designed for and adjust speed to conditions–within reason (again, get off the highway if the conditions scare you). Keep adequate distance between you and other vehicles around you (1+ car lengths per 10 MPH). Drive as if any other driver whose face you cannot see (including in their mirrors) does not know that you are there. Don’t switch lanes more often than necessary or mandated by law. Don’t let other drivers intimidate you into making poor decisions.
Remember, it isn’t speed specifically that kills–that’s an oversimplification which leads to some dangerous conclusions. What kills people are response times longer than the environment (including that created by your driving habits, and the conditions of the roadway manmade and otherwise) permits and the acceleration (positive or negative) caused by colision with other things on or around the roadway–including other vehicles.
So, when do we start?
— N1XIM