Texting at the light and other forms of device distraction behind the wheel

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Joseph Bernstein¹  James J. Bernstein² 

[1] 424 Stemmler Hall, University of Pennsylvania, 19104-6081, Philadelphia, PA, USA;Haverford High School, 200 Mill Rd, 19083, Havertown, PA, USA;

关键词: Accident prevention;    Adolescent;    Cell phones;    Distracted driving;    Motor vehicle accident;    Psychomotor performance;    Public policy;    Safety;    Smartphone;    Text messaging;    Traffic accidents;    Vehicular crashes;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-2343-8

 received in 2015-05-15, accepted in 2015-09-23,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCell phones are a well-known source of distraction for drivers, and owing to the proliferation of text messaging services, web browsers and interactive apps, modern devices provide ever-increasing temptation for drivers to take their eyes off the road. Although it is probably obvious that drivers’ manual engagement of a device while their vehicles are in motion is potentially dangerous, it may not be clear that such engagement when the vehicle is at rest (an activity broadly labeled “texting at the light”) can also impose risks. For one thing, a distracted driver at rest may fail to respond quickly to sudden changes in road conditions, such as an ambulance passing through. In addition, texting at the light may decrease so-called “situational awareness” and lead to driving errors even after the device is put down. To our knowledge, the direct comparison of the rate of device usage by drivers at rest with the rate of device usage by drivers in motion has not been reported.MethodsWe collected information on 2000 passenger vehicles by roadside observation. For the first group of 1000 passenger vehicles stopped at a traffic light, device usage (“texting”, “talking”, “none”), gender of the driver, vehicle type, seatbelt usage and presence of front seat passengers were recorded. For a second set of 1000 vehicles in motion, device usage alone was noted. Statistical significance for differences in rates was assessed with the chi-square test.ResultsWe found that 3 % of drivers in motion were texting and 5 % were talking. Among the stopped drivers, 14.5 % were texting and 6.3 % were talking. In the stopped-vehicle set, gender and vehicle type were not associated with significant differences in device usage, but having a front seat passenger and using seatbelts were.ConclusionsDevice usage is markedly higher among drivers temporarily at rest compared with those in motion, and the presence of a front seat passenger, who may help alleviate boredom or reprimand bad behavior, is associated with lower device usage rates among vehicles stopped at a light. These observations may help identify suitable steps to decrease distracted driving and thereby minimize traffic trauma.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Bernstein and Bernstein. 2015