More critical thinking skills

[cjsmith]

I've heard mention of a study indicating that it is more distracting to drive with an infant in a car seat than it is to drive using a cell phone. Anyone know more? Please point me to the study.

(I'd love to see one on talking to other people inside the car, too. Actual data, not conjecture or anecdote.)

Comments

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

I can tell you from experience that this is so. There is nothing quite so mind numbing as a screaming infant in a closed space. Plus, when Allegra was tiny I learned to drive 65 miles an hour down the freeway while searching the floor behind the passenger seat for dropped items (cheese, pacifiers, rattles...) and handing them back to her, all without taking my hands off the wheel or my eyes off the road. While this was great for my ability to multitask, I'm sure it qualifies as significantly more dangerous than merely talking on a cell phone while driving (which, if one is using a headset, is absolutely no different than talking to someone in the passenger seat--in fact, it might be better, because when talking on the phone, there's no temptation to take one's eyes off the road to look at the person with whom you are conversing--OTOH, all bets are off if one tries to hand write notes during said cell phone conversation!)

Unfortunately, I don't have any data on this, and no time to look it up. I hope someone else finds it though--I've long wanted something like that.

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

I can't find where I thought I'd seen it, which means anything you heard from me should be treated with at least moderate suspicion.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's damned distracting driving with an infant on board. Unless said infant is asleep. Studies on this would be interesting.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Of course, sometimes you have to take an infant somewhere, and it's too far to walk. Whereas it's usually possible to at least pull over to the side of the road before you make or take a phone call.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I've heard another study referenced on NPR (I don't remember the details of the study) that said that car phone hazards were greater than child-in-car, eating-or-drinking-while-driving, and pet-in-car hazards combined. (DUI outweighed carphone use, though.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I've seen one believing car phone use was comparable to DUI. Sounds like no one knows for sure, and people are just picking something to hate.

Personally, I hope if we ban cellphones-used-with-headsets, we also ban in-car conversation of any kind, and the ability of the driver to reach for something on the floor or on another seat or on the face of the radio. Fair's fair. But I doubt we'll do that.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

i think practice comes into play. i have a manual shift car and a tiny cell phone. after nearly rear-ending a cop trying to answer my phone in town, i made the rule that i NEVER use my cell while driving: not enough hands. i've mastered eating in the car, as i do that frequently. screaming babies/children in the car? i can see the wreck in my head. Negotiating a treacherous stretch of downtown highway at high speed in pre-rush-hour while removing a chewed-up tape from the tape deck w/o completely destroying it? i could do that in my sleep. ;-)

good ol'fashioned Common Sense is required, too. i think there should be a Common Sense portion of the drivers' test, and if you can't pass that, you don't get to drive.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I once changed clothes while driving down a highway; I believe I'm safer on a cellphone than most drivers around me seem to be when alone and not on a cellphone; fifteen years or more ago I mastered eating a McDonald's Big Breakfast (with fork and knife!) in a stick shift; but if I have a baby or a beer, or need to find my map book under the seat, FORGET IT.

I think there should also be an Attention Span portion and an Awareness Of What's Going On Around You portion. I was just telling joedecker the other day that one of the reasons I feel comfortable riding in a car he is driving is that his actions make it clear he knows where all the other cars are. He keeps that in his head and acts accordingly. He chooses different paths than I would choose, but he doesn't do anything wildly inconsistent with other cars' position and speed. At a subconscious level, I keep that mental map even as a passenger, and when the driver acts in disagreement with what I know is out there, I get nervy. Very few drivers pass the CJ-comfort Awareness Test.

Then again, very few humans are aware of what's around them. I still remember the woman who ran over a CAUTION sign with her stroller. Not just didn't see it, not just ignored its warning, but ran over it. I bet she has a driver's license. I bet she'd look down her nose at me if I used a phone. If SHE can't drive safely while on the phone, obviously no one can, right?

[(Anonymous)]

The "phone call equivalent to two beers" stat comes from a study done by mercedes, if I remember correctly; they also concluded that it was the mental-space distraction, not the poor ergonomics, because it happened with integrated-handsfree too. Unfortunately, a couple of minutes of googling only finds jokes and rants, but not the study; I haven't tried looking under news.google specifically yet. _Mark_