Passengers, driver distraction

Australian Road Rrtle 299 prohibits TV screerrs arrd ddeo display rrrrits from being seen by drivers while the vehicle is in motiorr, or stationary but not parked - and the device must not distract other drivers who are nearby. Australian Design Rule 42 (Section 18) states that all visual display rrrrits must not obscure the driver s vision, or impede driver or passenger movement in the vehicle and must not increase the risk of occupant injmy. This rule also states that, utrless a driver s aid, no part of the image on the display shortld be visible to the driver from the normal driving position. 

A 2008 University of Utah study said hands-free phone conversations put drivers in a mental fog that s more distracting than a conversation with passengers in the car. The research concluded that drivers are better able to synchronize the processing demands of driving with in-vehicle conversations than with cell phone conversations. 

The sequence of events was sent to your office computer for evaluation and internal actions. The video finds two students in the rear of the vehicle having a heated argument that moments later had the attention of other passengers in the rear. The driver asks the students to calm down and not distract the driver. Punches are thrown by the occupant in the left rear seat with retaliation from the student in the right rear seat. Several other passengers stand up and turn to watch the activity, blocking the driver s view of the ensuing problem. The noise from the commotion alerts the driver of the problem in the rear of the bus. 

The issue of pacing is a difficult one to handle. To assure that all subjects in a study are exposed to the exact same conditions of distraction, an artificial experimenter-paced task must be contrived. However, a true conversation - on the phone or with a passenger - is at least partially paced by the driver who can at any time decide whether or not to speak, and even whether or not to pay attention at all. When an experiment employs a real conversation as the distracting task it is difficult to assume that all subjects are equally loaded (as defined in Chapter 3 - in terms of the attention load imposed by the task) by the phone task. Thus, for the sake of rigorous experimental control a paced task is preferable, but for the sake of ecological validity a partially paced task is preferred. 

At first, you were probably very careful to follow all the safe procedures you learned. Both hands on the wheel—the nine o clock and three o clock positions. Both eyes on the road at all times. You always used your turn signal always stopped when traffic lights turned yellow. If a safety belt was in the car, you used it. Conversations with passengers were avoided, as well as distractions from a radio or cassette tape. This was all right and proper, of course, because driving is a relatively complex and risky task, requiring the driver s undivided attenhon. This time human nature was on the safe side. 

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