The National Safety Commission Alerts
Safety is No Accident. Visit the National Safety Commission - America's Safety Headquarters for driver safety information, auto recalls and teen safe driver tips.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Killer Apps and Social Media
A recent survey of young drivers in Great Britain came up
with some frightening findings for young drivers. Ingenie, a company that
provides insurance to young drivers surveyed one thousand drivers between the
ages of 17 to 25 about their driving habits. While the survey looked at young
British drivers, the results are probably very close to what would be
experienced by American drivers in the same age group.
Here are some of the findings from the survey:
- 44% said they had sent a text message, and 62% said they had read a message while they were driving
- 1 in 6 male drivers under 25 have crashed due to cell phone usage at the wheel
- One third of under 25s who use Facebook on their phone admitted to using it while driving
- 18% of under 25s who have Draw Something on their phone have played the game while driving – 17% for Angry Birds
- Hands-free cell phones encourage 53% more young drivers to make longer calls at the wheel (longer than 5 minutes)
The results of the survey show that, in spite of all the
efforts to get out the word on the dangers of distracted driving, young drivers
continue to believe that they are immune from danger. The dangers of texting
have been known for years however not a lot of attention has been given to the
fact that young drivers may be playing games while they drive.
The gaming app "Draw Something" is a social gaming app for
two players. It requires the drawer to draw a picture based on random words
selected by the computer. The words are ranked on the level of difficulty based
on the drawing required to convey that word. As the drawer draws a picture, the
guesser is shown the picture as it is created, stroke by stroke. The faster the
guesser can guess the word, the more points are won. Any person trying to play
this game while driving may as well place a hood over their head.
Driving requires three separate skill sets:
Visual – watching the road ahead and behind to
steer and avoid hazards,
Mechanical – using the hands and feet to steer
and operate the pedals, and
Cognitive – using the mind to interpret all the
data that is being seen and experienced to navigate and avoid hazards.
Playing games on a smart phone requires the exact same three
skill sets. The brain is only capable of doing one thing well at a time so,
when those skill sets are being used for a frivolous game, they can’t be used
for the concentration required in the life threatening driving environment. The
same goes for texting or staying connected through Facebook.
There are apps that can be beneficial to young drivers.
Parents of young drivers should seriously consider any one of a number of apps
or devices installed in the vehicle that disables their teen’s phone for
anything other than 911 calls.
Labels: android apps, dangers of distracted driving, distracted driving, driving skills, iphone apps, texting and driving
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Driver Education: Designated Passenger Role
Whew, your teen has received their Learner's Permit and has been driving for a few months. The hard part of the jerky brakes, sudden starts and grabbing the steering wheel or grasping to the door handle for support is over. No major catastrophes, property damage or traffic tickets. You have entered the easy phase of having your own personal chauffeur. It is a great time to catch up on your to do lists and return phone calls, right?
Not so fast, you still have quite a bit of work to do. The "Designated Passenger" has the responsibility of making sure that the teen you are supervising is getting the most out of their learning experience. You want them to have the right driving habits and practice them consistently. Trying to correct or change a bad habit becomes harder to do as time goes by.
Besides teaching driving skills, what are some things that the “Designated Passenger” should be doing? Start by asking them questions as they are driving. Questions to pose include:
Once they exercise strong control of the vehicle, have experience and understand the different types of driving environments and have the necessary driving skills down, the “Designated Passenger” has to change their focus to teaching defensive driving skills. You may also want them to take a defensive driving course and an advanced car control course to help them gain knowledge and experience on handling driving emergencies that you won’t be able to simulate for them.
Even after they are fully licensed, continue to monitor their driving from a “Designated Passenger” role. Driver education is continuing education and there is ongoing work to do to help keep new drivers safe.
Not so fast, you still have quite a bit of work to do. The "Designated Passenger" has the responsibility of making sure that the teen you are supervising is getting the most out of their learning experience. You want them to have the right driving habits and practice them consistently. Trying to correct or change a bad habit becomes harder to do as time goes by.
Besides teaching driving skills, what are some things that the “Designated Passenger” should be doing? Start by asking them questions as they are driving. Questions to pose include:
- What do you see ahead?
- Who has the right of way in this situation? What if the other vehicle was there first?
- What can you anticipate happening with those kids playing in the yard? How would you react? What should you start doing now just in case?
- What does the law say about sharing the road with bicyclists? What extra precautions should you take for them?
- If the dog up came running out into the street, what would you do?
- Walk me through what you would do right now if you had a tire blow out? What if the blow out was in the car ahead of you?
- That motorcycle behind you is coming up quickly, why is that important to know?
- What driving behaviors tell you that someone may be a distracted driver? How should you handle sharing the road with a distracted driver? What if they are impaired?
- What can you do to overcome the glare of the sun, while you are driving? What if the fog rolled in?
- Your traffic light just turned green, what should you do before accelerating?
- If the vehicle went off the road right now, what is the right way to get back on the road?
- If another car was headed straight towards us head-on, what is the first thing you would do? Then what next? And so on.
Once they exercise strong control of the vehicle, have experience and understand the different types of driving environments and have the necessary driving skills down, the “Designated Passenger” has to change their focus to teaching defensive driving skills. You may also want them to take a defensive driving course and an advanced car control course to help them gain knowledge and experience on handling driving emergencies that you won’t be able to simulate for them.
Even after they are fully licensed, continue to monitor their driving from a “Designated Passenger” role. Driver education is continuing education and there is ongoing work to do to help keep new drivers safe.
Labels: commercial drivers license, designated passenger, driver education, driving skills, learners permit, traffic ticket
Find us on Facebook