Cognitive Distraction

Distracted driving, your brain, multitasking, cognitive distraction

According to eye-tracking studies, drivers who are not distracted scan the world from side to side for input; but cell phone drivers tend to stare straight ahead, not changing their glance patterns when needed. These drivers look but don’t see up to 50 percent of information in their driving environment.

Drivers not only need to keep their hands on the wheel but also need to keep their brains on the road, per the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging. A passenger in the car will most likely recognize increased demands on the driver’s attention and stop talking; but not so when talking on a cell phone which has a special unseen social demand to keep the conversation going.

Multitasking While Driving

According to the National Safety Council, using a cell phone, hands-free or handheld, requires the brain to multitask – a process it is incapable of doing safely while driving. The brain is not designed to perform two cognitively complex tasks at the same time. In doing so, the brain shifts between tasks and filters information because it’s overwhelmed.

Multitasking research done by the American Psychological Association reveals that losing just a half second of time to task switching can make a life-or-death difference for a driver on a cell phone traveling at 30 mph. During the time the driver is not totally focused on driving, the car can travel far enough to crash into an obstacle, which otherwise could have been avoided.

In a University of South Carolina study, researchers found that speaking and planning to speak put far more distracting demands on the brain than listening—which is why talking on a cell phone or hands-free device interferes with driving.

If you’ve Been Injured

Multitasking and driving don’t mix. If you and your family have suffered because of a distracted driver, find out if the personal injury attorneys Anapol Schwartz can file a distracted driver lawsuit on your behalf.