EDITORIAL: Distracted Driving

IN 2010, MICHIGAN passed a law that made it illegal to text and drive. The results of this policy change are in and they’re disappointing. In the May 2014 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers published the results of a study which found that “small increases in the most severe crash types (fatal/disabling and nondisabling injury) and small decreases in the least severe crash types (possible injury/PDO) were observed…. This suggests that the public health impact of the texting restriction was minor.”

Anyone who has driven on M-14 and U.S. 23 around Ann Arbor during morning and evening rush hours will not be surprised by these findings. The number of crashes on those two highways, including fatal crashes, has risen, particularly on southbound U.S. 23. Some of these crashes involved drivers distracted by talking on their phones and texting.

The study’s authors did not investigate whether enforcement and public awareness played a role in the failure of the 2010 law to considerably reduce severe crashes. However, they did make clear that “Broad public awareness and high-profile enforcement are essential to successful policy implementation. Previous studies have demonstrated both enforcement and publicity mediate behavior change after the introduction of cell phone restrictions.”

The plain neurological truth is that human brains are not adept at dividing attention between driving and talking on a phone. The National Safety Council is unequivocal: “There is no safe way to use a cell phone while driving.” The NSC has compiled more than 30 studies showing why hands-free devices are no safer. Drivers talking on handheld or hands-free cell phones are four times as likely to be involved in a car crash. This is because activity in the parietal lobe, the area of the brain that processes movement of visual images and is important for safe driving, decreases by as much as 37 percent when listening to language, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon University.

So turn off your phone while driving. The life you save may be your own.