According to the National Safety Council, distracted driving, or driving while multitasking, causes an estimated 25 percent of car crashes. This is especially applicable when it comes to driving while using a cellphone. Even though most states, including Florida, have legal restrictions against using a cellphone while driving, the laws have not decreased the number of deaths from distracted driving.
Every year, personal injury attorneys see many cases in which innocent drivers and passengers are hurt or even killed. An increasing number of these accidents in recent years have involved another driver who was using a cellphone. Making a call, checking email or sending text messages while driving is never more important than paying attention to the road. Too many drivers mistakenly believe that although others should never text and drive, they themselves can handle multitasking with their cellphones while driving. Unfortunately, the human brain has its limits. No one, not even the best driver, has the capacity to multitask behind the wheel.
Driving and the Human Brain
The human brain is incapable of multitasking, according to research analyzed for a National Safety Council whitepaper. The brain handles tasks sequentially and is unable to process two tasks at once. Drivers can switch quickly between tasks because the brain is agile, but any moment spent concentrating on cellphone operation is a moment the brain is neglecting the road.
To receive, process and act upon information from the environment, the brain goes through six distinct phases:
- Selection. Out of all of the stimuli perceived by the senses, the brain has to select which stimulus should receive its attention.
- Processing. After selecting a piece of information, the brain processes that information in the appropriate neural pathway.
- Encoding. The brain encodes information to place it in either the short-term or long-term memory.
- Storage. Memories are directed to the appropriate storage location in the brain.
- Retrieval. To act upon the information, the brain has to retrieve it from its stored location.
- Execution. The brain determines which action to take.
Listening to a cellphone conversation while driving, according to a Carnegie Mellon University study, decreases activity in the parietal lobe by 37 percent. The parietal lobe handles spatial reasoning, which is an important aspect of driving. For example, if directing activity away from the parietal lobe causes a driver to misjudge the distance between his car and another car, then the driver could fail to brake in time to avoid a collision. When the brain of a driver selects a cellphone stimulus to receive its attention, it can only pay limited attention to the surrounding environment.
Cellphones and Driving: Alarming Statistics
The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates using a cellphone while driving quadruples the risk of a motor vehicle accident. This statistic indicates driving while using a cellphone is as dangerous as driving with a 0.08 blood-alcohol concentration. In Florida, driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more results in a DUI conviction. Even worse, sending text messages while driving increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident by a factor of 23 percent.
In a survey, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found 83 percent of Americans understand they should not use a cellphone while driving. However, 70 percent of Americans admit to speaking on a cellphone while behind the wheel. One-third admits they read emails and send text messages on the road. Hands-free cellphone use may seem safer, but it can be just as dangerous. The NHTSA found that drivers operating hands-free cellphones had to redial calls 40 percent of the time compared to hands-on operators, who redialed just 18 percent of the time. Hands-free operation impacts driver concentration and reaction time as much, if not more, than hands-on cellphone use.
Even though Florida laws against cellphone use while driving are limited, personal injury cases involving victims of distracted drivers may be brought under more general distracted driving statutes. A qualified injury attorney can help victims obtain compensation under the appropriate laws.
About the Author: Frank Fernandez is a personal injury attorney with an office in the Tampa area. As part of the Fernandez Firm, he has handled thousands of personal injury claims throughout the years.
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