Road Rules

Autophobia, by Brian Ladd (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008) is a study of the world in which the automobile has been “bought, driven, parked and crashed.”  Its title is a play on the psychiatric term for “fear of oneself,” —as Mr. Ladd explains, the automobile having become “such a central tool (and toy) of modern life” that fear of cars (which the term might seem to denote) “is tantamount to fear of being human in the automobile age.”

 Long ago, (in November 1999), at the 6th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems held in Toronto, Canada presented its plan for providing “the leadership and support necessary to advance the application and compatibility of ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) technologies to make Canada's transportation system safe, integrated, efficient and sustainable.”  This plan is online at the Transport Canada website at www.tc.gc.ca  on the Transportation Technology and Innovation page.  The Executive Summary cites the importance of Canada’s ground transportation system to its “economic and social well-being” and the potential improvements from adopting the “advances in smart technologies or intelligent transportation systems.”

Public consultation by the BC Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles on questions raised by a discussion paper entitled Distracted Drivers: Use of Cell Phones and other Technologies while Driving ended on August 7th, 2009.  The discussion paper and the questions are online at www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/legislation/current.htm.  At the time of writing, the public’s response is under review by the Solicitor General and the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles. Recent media reports are saying that a legislative response, i.e., new rules about cell phone use (and possibly about the use of other electronic communication devices (ECDs)) while driving are being developed.

WikiAnswers.com, in answer to the question, “Is multitasking efficient?” says, “sometimes, but not while driving.”  Researchers at Stanford University, who have recently reported their findings on searching for the secret to good media multitasking in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, would likely take issue with this answer.  Not with the “not while driving” qualification, but with the already limiting “sometimes.”  This is because there appears to be no good multitasking in any context.