Tennessee Injury Law Center
In a recent survey where drivers were asked to rank the driving behaviors that worried them the most, distracted driving was at the top of the list, ranking above both speeding and aggressive driving. In fact, 78% of drivers believe that distracted driving is a safety issue on their roadways. Unfortunately, they are right. In a recent Nationwide Insurance survey, 20% of drivers admit to texting while driving, 15% use social media, 13% actually watch videos and 11% write or read emails while driving. Most people would agree that all of this is distracted driving. But, what about simply talking on the phone? Is hands-free cellphone use any better? What about talking with passengers in the car? What about listening to the radio?
Using a cellphone while driving cause mental, auditory, physical and visual distraction. Mental distraction occurs when we ask the brain to perform two or more tasks at the same time. Listening to the other person on the phone can reduce the brain’s ability to handle the task of driving by one-third. Auditory distraction results from the pinging of a text or the ringing of the phone. Physical distraction occurs because it requires you to use your hands to hold your phone or activate hands-free. Visual distraction happens when you look at your phone or at your car’s display system to complete a task associated with a call or text. Despite all these forms of distraction, people who use their phones while driving are overconfident in their abilities to overcome them.
Unfortunately, hands-free cellphone use only minimizes physical and visual distraction. Drivers still experience mental and auditory distraction from the act of talking on the phone. Experts report that using your phone in hands-free mode while driving still creates inattention blindness and causes actions such as missing an exit, failing to notice a pedestrian, running a stop sign or red light. Experts also note that drivers using their phones in hands-free mode have slower reaction times. In fact, the reaction times can be as slow as or worse than drivers with a BAC of .08, the legal limit for alcohol in Tennessee.
Interestingly, talking to passengers in the car or listening to the radio do not have the same effect. Passengers in the car tend to monitor road conditions along with the driver and can observe for themselves when the driver needs to pay more attention, whereas the person on the other end of the phone cannot see that traffic is suddenly slowing or that children are riding their bikes up ahead. As for the radio, experts have found that listening to music or a talk show is not as mentally draining as a two-way conversation where the driver is expected to absorb information and respond appropriately.
So while you were growing up, if your mama ever told you to be quiet or turned the radio down when road conditions deteriorated or traffic got heavy, she intuitively understood the risk of distracted driving. Mamas also understand the need to get help when you need it. At the Law Offices of John Day, we have been helping car accident victims for over 30 years. Our award-winning lawyers handle all car wreck cases on a contingency basis so we only get paid if we recover money for you. To get started, just give us a call:
Nashville: 615-669-3993
Murfreeboro: 615-867-9900
Brentwood: 615-742-4880
Toll-Free: 866-812-8787