Cell Phones and Cars

I was reading in another priuschat thread about people driving their cars while talking on cell phones. It reminded me of a study done at Carnegie Mellon University. I couldn't find the release at the CMU site, so had to go to another source:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/200...u-cms072601.php

<snippits>
By studying images of the brain at work, Carnegie Mellon University scientists have concluded that we cannot converse on cell phones without distracting our brains from the task of driving.

"We've demonstrated that the human brain has a limited ability to perform two cognitive tasks concurrently under demanding circumstances, such as simultaneously conversing and driving."

"Making the cell phone hands-free will not help eliminate the brain distraction"
</snippits>

I do not post this to point fingers or cast stones. Just to share.
Personally, I have a cell phone. I use my cell phone in the car. I have a hands-free kit but don't always use it. According to this study, I'm as big a risk as all those other poeple using cell phones while driving.

We can only try to conclude that the more difficult the driving situation and/or the conversation, the more difficult it becomes to speak and drive at the same time.

 

Agreed, efusco. Though I've never been in a cockpit and I'm happy with my blissful ignorance on that one.

The human mind is very one-tracked though we try like Heck to deny it. Anyone who has ever reached over and turned down the radio when they were trying to find an address knows this. I was in complete denial about doing that until one time I caught myself doing it unconsciously.

There have been many times in which I've been so enthralled in an NPR report I've missed the light changing or almost rear-ended the car in front of me. There are days when work follows me home, though when I look back, I'm not quite sure how I got here. And it wouldn't surprise me if each time the people around me assumed I was talking on the phone.

What I found most interesting about the CMU report is the repetition that anything other than concentrating on the road will detract you from concentrating on the road. Even my wife, constantly telling me how I'm driving incorrectly, is a distraction which ironically increases the odds of an accident.

I will say this about cell phones and car phones. I'm no longer concerned about engaging in a lively conversation with myself or talking back to the radio. I'd rather have people assume I'm on the phone than think we're schizophrenic.