As mobile telephones become widespread, their possible role as a cause of driver inattention in traffic incidents is coming under increased scrutiny. The data analysis examples presented here illustrate the importance of examinng this issue in the broader context of all driver behaviours and distractions including those involving the presence of occupants (with whom conversation may be engaged). Reliance on small samples of data to characterize the role of mobile telephone usage in accidents risks amplifies the confounding characteristics of those users, and can serve to mask much of the overall complexity of the driving task. Mobile telephones must play a role in some accidents - as in-vehicle devices that can draw upon both visual and cognitive attention, they can provide opportunities for distraction. There is no question that distraction in some form contributes to motor vehicle accidents based on the accident database analyses reviewed and reported here. The increase in motor vehicle accident risk associated with mobile telphones, however, appears to be quite low, based on the very small number of accidents clearly attributable to phone usage, although risk quantification has proven diffcult. It has been suggested that stimuli and activities under the control of the driver (e.g. sound systems, climate controls, or mobile telephones) are less likely to be disruptive distractions than autonomous events such as children crying or food falling. Drivers appear to understand that cell phones can be distracting and may exercise some compensatory caution while driving and phoning. Seen in this light, tasks that are under driver control do not necessarily place demands upon a driver - unless the driver's attention is captured by the task. Future investigations into the design and safety of in-vehicle systems need to consider not only the attentional demands or challenges posed by interacting with these systems, but also the degree of control that drivers are likely to exercise over their attentional allocation.
Mobile communications, driver distraction and vehicle accidents
Mobilkommunikation, Fahrerablenkung und Verkehrsunfälle
International Journal of Vehicle Design ; 26 , 1 Special Issue ; 70-84
2001
15 Seiten, 4 Bilder, 4 Tabellen, 32 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
Mobile communications, driver distraction and vehicle accidents
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