According to recent poll results, Canadians are concerned about driver distractions and are quick to point out the dangerous behaviour of others, but reluctant to change their own driving habits. Even when told that their cellphone use makes them four times more likely to be involved in a collision, 60% of the respondents indicated they would not stop using their cellphones when driving.

 

The Insurance Bureau reports that “while…novice drivers…performed poorly both on and off the phone, …in some respects, experienced drivers drove as badly as beginners did while on the phone. …In the end, we found that these distractions worsened drivers’ ability to react quickly to hazards, no matter how much driving experience they had.”

 

The need for more research on the whole subject of driver distraction is a key recommendation in the report on the first International Conference on Distracted Driving held in Toronto in October 2005. According to the report, defining distracted driving, determining how commonly it occurs and what risk it poses were the starting points. Then there should be discussion about measures that can be taken to address the issues. The report mentions some proposed remedies already in mind, including public awareness and education, technology, regulation and law enforcement, and industry-government cooperation.

 

The report notes that the rapid development of new technologies means that as fast as potentially effective counter-measures for distraction —for example, lane monitoring, adaptive cruise control or collision avoidance systems— are invented, new interactive or telematic distractions emerge. It defines the challenge as being “to assess the distracting potential of new technology and take proactive steps to prevent it from increasing crash risks, while preserving its potential benefits.”

 

This report concludes that distracted driving is “difficult to manage.” “Distracted driving,” it says, “arises from a broad range of events, objects and activities outside and inside the vehicle, and involves lifestyle issues, not just driving issues, including the almost natural propensity to attend to objects, events, or activities that are new, novel or engaging. Distractions must be dealt with continually while driving and therefore, no single brief action like clicking on a seat belt will ensure that the single-minded focus necessary for safe driving is applied and maintained. Being distracted,” it notes, “is virtually a way of life.”

 

The traditional term for distracted driving is “driving without due care and attention.” The police issue a lot of tickets for this offence.

 

To read the report online go to www.distracteddriving.ca . To see if you are a distracted driver try the quiz and take the virtual road test developed by the Insurance Bureau, at www.clickonthis.ca .