Distracted DriverDistractions now join

alcohol and speeding as

leading factors in fatal and serious injury

crashes

Statistics

• According to the National Safety Council so far this year there have been an estimated 61,698 crashes caused by driver’s using cell phones and texting

• More than 1.6 million crashes are caused by cell phone use and texting each year

Myth or Fact?

• Do you believe that multitasking is a myth?

Multitasking

•Multitasking for the brain is a myth

• Human brains do not perform two tasks at same time. Brain handles tasks sequentially. Brain switches between one task and another

Multitasking

• Just listening to sentences on cell phones decreased activity by 37% in the brain’s parietal lobe which perceives movement, integrates sensory information and also has importance for language processing

Driving Simulator

• http://www.psych.utah.edu/lab/appliedcognition/

Multitasking

•How much of the road do you see when driving using a cell phone?– Is your vision of the road the same or different?

Inattention Blindness

Driver’s not using handheld device

Driver’s using handheld device

How Cell Phones Distract

• Visual• Mechanical • Cognitive: Mind focuses on

conversation, not on driving– Ie. “Looking” but not “seeing”

DO NOW

• Write down examples of Visual, Mechanical, and Cognitive Distractions

• List ways you can prevent these distractions.

•Cell phone users 4x as likely to crash

Help us save lives. Tell everyone you know.

On the Road, Off the Phone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DebhWD6ljZs&feature=player_embedded

Activity

Students will create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) poster that helps to detail one of the dangers of distracted driving. Students will present their signs in class.

http://www.distraction.gov