Distractions... growing in number...

[genec]

Some here seem to think that disctractions are normal and have always been with us. Some distractions have always been with us... But why add more? I am of the opinion that more is NOT better. Keep in mind that modern cars envelope the driver in a coccoon of air, should the driver blunder. Nothing protects pedestrians or cyclists, but their wit and reaction times, should a driver CHOSE to have their mind on something other than driving.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070401/news_lz1c01cars.html

It isn't speed but the growing number of accessories and amusements that are fast driving us to distraction.

“We're seeing an explosion of gadgets in the car,” said David Strayer, a University of Utah professor who researches driver distraction. “Cell phones are the tip of the iceberg.”

But the proliferation of onboard technology – now a $30 billion industry – has alarmed car-safety advocates and researchers, who note that the devices arrive with no independent evaluation of the potential hazards.

Driver distraction of all sorts – flashy billboards, noisy children, spilled coffee – is involved in about 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes, according to a 2006 study.

Even though the gadgets come with warnings about their use while driving, and some are designed to be inoperable when the vehicle is in motion, Strayer and others wonder about the wisdom of adding ever more attention-grabbers.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070401/news_1c01text.html

Teens OK with texting and driving

In a study published in August 2006, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety had teens rank various driving distractions and its surveys revealed that 37 percent of teens said text messaging was extremely or very distracting. Text messaging was ranked as the No. 1 driving distraction.

In 2005, The Allstate Foundation found that 13 percent – an estimated 1.6 million teens – drive while reading or writing text messages.

Of course, DWT (Driving While Texting) isn't just for the young. A Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. study showed that 19 percent of all drivers text message. But the technology-dependent generation still leads the pack: 37 percent of drivers ages 18 to 27 text while behind the wheel, according to the study.

[sbhikes]

That's what is needed. An independent review board that decides whether these things are ok to use in cars before they are sold to people.

[sggoodri]

I hate the custom stereo in my wife's car. It's very complex with small buttons and smaller print; I cannot figure out how to do anything without staring at it. When I drive her car, I turn down the volume to mute (I cannot figure out how to turn it off) rather than mess with it.

In comparison, the stock stereo that came with my 2003 Honda Element has all its buttons about the size of my thumb, with big text. The display is uncluttered - minimal information, only what is needed. I never look at it anyway - I know which radio button I pushed by feel and by sound.

I wish more car manufacturers and perhaps government regulators saw this type of simplicity as life-saving. I think it is.

[genec]

I hate the custom stereo in my wife's car. It's very complex with small buttons and smaller print; I cannot figure out how to do anything without staring at it. When I drive her car, I turn down the volume to mute (I cannot figure out how to turn it off) rather than mess with it.

In comparison, the stock stereo that came with my 2003 Honda Element has all its buttons about the size of my thumb, with big text. The display is uncluttered - minimal information, only what is needed. I never look at it anyway - I know which radio button I pushed by feel and by sound.

I wish more car manufacturers and perhaps government regulators saw this type of simplicity as life-saving. I think it is.

I laughingly agree with you. There is a great book called "The Design of Everyday Things," (Donald Norman) that discusses poor interfaces and the increased complexity of what should be relatively simple things. The small buttons in an auto radio are a classic example of very poor design.

I faced a very annoying simlar issue just last week... driving home late at night, the backlight on my auto radio was so bright as to be distracting. The only apparent solution was to remove the face plate... Later I read the 9 page manual that came with it and found the "dim" control buried a couple menus down. BTW turning it off only invoked a very annoying "display" that blazed the "features" across the display... with "dimmer" flashing every few minutes... Sigh.

BTW my son bought me this radio a couple of years ago... it would not have been my choice at all.

[chemcycle]

Distractions... growing in number...

Yeah, those cyclocomputers sure can be distracting. Good thing I don't have the cadence function!!

[sggoodri]

Yeah, those cyclocomputers sure can be distracting. Good thing I don't have the cadence function!!

I have the cadence function on my Shimano Flight Deck, and never use it, because I can never remember what I'm supposed to do to turn it on. I think it can also do my taxes. I can't read the fine print in the manual while cycling, and it would get all nasty in my jersey pocket. The Flight Deck also eats batteries and makes me reprogram it every 6-12 months. In hindsight, I wish I had just bought a cheap odometer/speedometer.

Before somebody makes me turn in my geek card - I do own a copy of The Design of Everyday Things; among other things I design user interfaces for law enforcement people who don't have time for reading a user manual.

[Bikepacker67]

That's what is needed. An independent review board that decides whether these things are ok to use in cars before they are sold to people.


Why not just expect people to be responsible behind the wheel, and properly punish them when they're not.

I'm thinking of the 20-something biyatch (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GFRC_enCA205CA205&q=%22Jennifer+Stark%22+cyclist&btnG=Search)who was downloading ringtones, or the jackhole who was text-messaging (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10295430/). They both served NO JAIL TIME for running down cyclists.

[genec]

Why not just expect people to be responsible behind the wheel, and properly punish them when they're not.

I'm thinking of the 20-something biyatch (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GFRC_enCA205CA205&q=%22Jennifer+Stark%22+cyclist&btnG=Search)who was downloading ringtones, or the jackhole who was text-messaging (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10295430/). They both served NO JAIL TIME for running down cyclists.

"Responsible behind the wheel," you mean like always driving at or below speed limits, signaling intentions... coming to a complete stop before turning right on red... that sort of thing... Riiiiight. :rolleyes:

[sbhikes]

I think expecting people to be responsible behind the wheel was already shown to not be working in the OP. An independent review board might be able to make suggestions as to what changes a device may need to be safely used in a car, such as like with the stereo example.

I have to run usability tests on web pages all the time. Why not on these devices?

[genec]

I think expecting people to be responsible behind the wheel was already shown to not be working in the OP. An independent review board might be able to make suggestions as to what changes a device may need to be safely used in a car, such as like with the stereo example.

I have to run usability tests on web pages all the time. Why not on these devices?

Frankly I think it is a great idea... of course getting third party manufactures to comply might be an issue.

[sggoodri]

I think expecting people to be responsible behind the wheel was already shown to not be working in the OP. An independent review board might be able to make suggestions as to what changes a device may need to be safely used in a car, such as like with the stereo example.

I have to run usability tests on web pages all the time. Why not on these devices?

Agreed: to use an example from Donald Norman's book, usability studies of aircraft cockpits have lead to improved designs that reduce potentially disastrous errors, such as confusing the flaps lever with the gear lever. Making the gear lever look like a tire and the flaps lever look like a wing is a simple and effective improvement. Text: bad. Shape: good.

In addition to design, I'd like to see government efforts at much greater public awareness about distracted driving. I think it's great that we are getting bombarded by PSAs about the dangers of drinking and driving, but what is being done about all the sober drivers crashing into people?

[sggoodri]

Frankly I think it is a great idea... of course getting third party manufactures to comply might be an issue.

Here's a big-government proposal for you: what if safety inspections included federal requirements for the vehicle controls and dash?

[genec]

Here's a big-government proposal for you: what if safety inspections included federal requirements for the vehicle controls and dash?

Sort of like the inspections required for aircraft???

Here in CA they don't have safety inspections, just smog checks. Back in Texas where much of my family resides, they have annual safety inspections, including checking headlight aim.

Until all the states can agree on what constitutes universal law regarding autos... I see problems.

[noisebeam]

I think it's great that we are getting bombarded by PSAs about the dangers of drinking and driving, but what is being done about all the sober drivers crashing into people?
I too think continued pressure on D&D is needed.

I'll stick my neck out and also suggest that if drivers were better trained in safe driving practices (independent of knowing not to D&D), learned to habitually follow traffic laws, had fewer in vehicle distractions and better designed operator controls for in-vehicle devices, that D&D accidents would also decrease.

It is obvious as there would be a correlation, but I say 'stick my neck out' as the implication is that D&D would become safer (statistically) too. But don't get me wrong that is not how I would phrase the result, nor would I want to suggest that there is such thing as a safer drunk driver - All D&D is unsafe (relative to sober) and should be eliminated as a goal.

The only reason I post this however is that I suspect that with the exception of extreme DUI (which becomes the overwhelming negative effect), that distractions and complex controls for a drunk driver have an even more severe negative effect vs. on a sober driver.

Al

[Trek Al]

I find it amazing how quickly the people on this board are agreeable to giving up their freedoms to some faceless, nameless bureaucrat.

Al

[sbhikes]

Maybe it's better to give up our freedom to text message while driving to maintain our freedom to live another day. Nobody's asking you to give up your gun for crying out loud.

[genec]

I find it amazing how quickly the people on this board are agreeable to giving up their freedoms to some faceless, nameless bureaucrat.

Al

Oh, you mean the Patriot Act, right? You know the Act the FBI abused to spy (http://p228.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/ap/national_security_letters) on citizens? Nameless faceless bureaucrats indeed...

[Trek Al]

Oh, you mean the Patriot Act, right? You know the Act the FBI abused to spy (http://p228.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/ap/national_security_letters) on citizens? Nameless faceless bureaucrats indeed...

I think you just made my point. Once the government gets in your business there ain't no stopping it.

Al

[genec]

I think you just made my point. Once the government gets in your business there ain't no stopping it.

Al

Not to turn this into a government argument, but the government is already in the business of regulating the airwaves that handheld devices work upon. The FCC has standards that control the frequency, modulation method and bandwidth of these devices... so the "faceless bureaucrats" are already there... not to mention the seatbelts, smog controls and airbag. So frankly why not a regulation on the types of distracting devices allowed in use in your transportation machine.

[sggoodri]

I find it amazing how quickly the people on this board are agreeable to giving up their freedoms to some faceless, nameless bureaucrat.


I'm a card-carrying, donating member of the ACLU, but I'll play devil's advocate if it makes for a more interesting discussion.

[recursive]

I thought this thread was going to be about the effect Spring's arrival has on clothes.

But then, I live on a college campus.

[John E]

As usual, we can choose to live in a [regulated] zoo or a [free-for-all] jungle, and we usually tailor our socioeconomic systems somewhere in between. If you want to exercise your (dubious) right to text-message while motoring, are you prepared to face a second-degree murder charge and a 15-to-life sentence if your inattention leads to the death of another human being? If motorists were actually held accountable for inattentive or distracted driving, I would much less inclined to let the government tell them when to put their precious electronic toys away.

[SSP]

Sort of like the inspections required for aircraft???

Here in CA they don't have safety inspections, just smog checks. Back in Texas where much of my family resides, they have annual safety inspections, including checking headlight aim.

Isn't that just bizarre? I grew up in the Dallas area, and lived for a time near Austin, and even though the annual inspection ritual was a minor PITA, I appreciated the fact that it was helping to keep unsafe junkers off of the roads.

With all the other rules and regulations in California, it's kind of shocking that they don't require periodic safety inspections for vehicles.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

I'm a card-carrying, donating member of the ACLU...
That proves to me you ain't all bad Steve! Just don't let yourself be swayed on legal issues by your far-out Tar Heel lawyer Wanna -be pal.

Actually, I knew that already, even though you are on the wrong side of other cycling issues too much for my liking.

[Ed Holland]

Ahh, the time is right for my Shave-o-matic GPS coffee phone!