Driver distraction sources

Sources of driver distraction and their impact on driving... 

Source Data from Olson, R.L. et al. 2009. Driver distraction in commercial vehicle operations, final report. Report No. FMCSA-RRR-09-042. Washington, DC Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, http //www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/research-technology/report/FMCSA-RRR-09-042.pdf. 

Driver distraction by other sources, e.g. video playing... 

The advent of many new in-vehicle sources of distraction in the form of entertainment, navigation, and communications systems is a good reason to focus on their contribution to driver inattention and distraction, and on the potential methods to deal with their effects. The abundant amount of research on cell phone distractions, and the little research that has been conducted on navigation and text-messaging systems, have shown the extent of the risk that these distraction sources pose, and some directions to pursue in order to reduce tiiese risks. 

The issue of distraction is much more complicated than most lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are ready to acknowledge. By simply disallowing specific sources of distracters -such as cell phones - we have no assurance that drivers will not seek other sources of distraction. And other sources do abound. Also, banning the use of many of these devices -especially the ones that also benefit some aspects of the driving task, such as navigation systems - may be doomed to fail. This was the case when car radios were introduced in the 1930 s. 

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