Keep your mind on the road

摘要

Cars, to paraphrase some in America's gun lobby, do not kill people. People kill people. And among the people more likely than others to kill people are those distracted by their use of mobile phones and other portable electronic devices while they are driving. Actually holding a phone to your ear while driving is illegal in many places. But not having both hands on the wheel is only part of the problem. Another part, probably more serious, is the dissipation of attention involved. If further evidence of this were needed, it has just been provided in a study published by the aaa Foundation for Traffic Safety, in Washington, dc. David Strayer and his colleagues at the University of Utah, the study's authors, looked at exactly how distracting various mental activities are to drivers.