Drving and Texting

It would be good if our legislators focused on the science relevant to cell phone use rather than just the motor coordination required to text or dial a phone while driving (Mass. House OK's driving safety bill, Boston Globe, February 5, 2010: B1).

The science in unequivocal: a large part of the danger in cell phone use while driving is due to the concentration required while talking with a person on the other end of the phone. It is unequivocally not the same as chatting to a passenger in the car.

A passenger is also attuned to what is going on in the driver's environment so can adjust speech patterns in line with traffic flows and emergencies. A person at the other end of a telephone conversation has no such access to changes in the driver's environment.

We just do not have enough cognitive resources to attend to a conversation and to the unexpected changes that occur on the most routine of drives.

We must ban cell phones while driving. Period. Though I suppose this is a step in the right direction.


Sent to Boston Globe

Driving while Cell Phoning

Mr. Witonsky is wrong (Letters, New York Times, December 12, 2009: A34).

Using a voice-activated cell phone while driving is not the same thing as chatting with a passenger beside you.

When chatting with a passenger, that person is also aware of the road conditions, sensitive to unforeseen emergencies so will adjust whether or not he or she talks. The person at the other end of a cell phone conversations completely unaware of what is going on while one is driving so cannot adjust the pace of conversation as road conditions change.

The killer is the distracted attention of the driver, not whether the phone is hand held or fitted with some fancy new technology.


Sent to New York Times
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