Distracted Driving Due to Cell Phones

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Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States among adolescents, accounting for 1.3 million deaths and 50 million injuries per year. Distracted driving is a major risk factor for many of these accidents, taking a tremendous toll on families and communities, both financially and emotionally. An increasing number of legislative efforts have been put in place to educate the public, reduce the incidence of motor vehicle accidents, and implement new regulatory approaches to prohibit distracted driving. The focus of this report is to investigate human brain activity in response to distraction--particularly during driving, debunk the myth of the brain's ability to multitask, and by extension, the futility of hands-free technologies while driving. This report also aims to increase awareness of the risks and consequences of distracted driving, discuss the problem in relation to texting and driving, and explore possible solutions to put an end to this risky behavior.

The act of driving itself already demands a great amount of focus and concentration from the driver. Adding a cell phone to the picture introduces additional challenges for the brain. Researchers at Monash University's Accident Research Centre have shown that multi-tasking between driving and text messaging increases the mental workload causing higher levels of stress and frustration . For instance, stress is heightened when shifting from driving on a local route to entering a highway or vice versa. Using a phone (checking a text message, posting a Facebook status) contributes to increasing the complexity of the task at hand. This exhausts the brain, weakens the operator’s driving abilities, and compromises th...

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...ration, 2012. DOT HS 811 629

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