Driver Distractions

This story by Dee-Ann Durbin of the Associated Press describes the results of a study to determine what distracted drivers and how often drivers were distracted. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina and the American Automobile Association who tracked 70 drivers, aged 18 to 80, from North Carolina and Pennsylvania by installing miniature cameras in their cars. The study concluded:

Thirty percent of the study subjects used cell phones while their vehicles were moving, but that was far from the most common distraction. Some 97 percent leaned over to reach for something, and 91 percent fiddled with radio controls.

Drivers were most likely to swerve when they were reaching, eating, using cell phones or tending to infants. Babies distracted drivers an average of 8.4 times per hour, compared with 1.1 times for adult passengers.

In all, the study found that drivers were distracted 16.1 percent of the time their vehicles were moving.

Based upon the article, there are many factors which negatively impact a person's performance behind the wheel of a car, but it seems they were analyzed individually. In other words, if a person was doing several distracting things at once, um, let me think of something. Oh, how about talking on a cell phone while tending to an infant who was being breast fed. It seems that a driver distraction multiplication factor (DDMF) should be devised. Hey, what a coincidence. That segues right into the next posting about Catherine Donkers and Brad Lee Barnhill.