Preface to the Special Section on Driver Distraction

Abstract

Beginning with the introduction of the car radio, there have been concerns regarding how in-vehicle technology might undermine driving safety. Those concerns are particularly apparent today as many worry about the safety consequences of introducing vastly more complex technologies into the car, most prominently regarding the use of cell phones while driving. Developments in the areas of wireless communication, computing, and GPS technology make an increasing variety of navigation, E-mail, and Internet systems available to the driver. This availability, coupled with increased commute times, productivity pressures, and the diffusion of work beyond the office, makes it likely that drivers will use these devices while driving. For example, 90% of all cell phone owners report that they use the phone while driving (Goodman, Tijerina, Bents, & Wierwille, 1999). The increasingly common use of existing technology and the rapidly emerging new technology make it imperative to understand how in-vehicle technology affects driving safety. Properly designed, the new technologies may enhance driving enjoyment and safety; poorly designed, they can be deadly. A large and rapidly growing body of research shows that using a cell phone while driving degrades driving performance and increases crash risk (Aim & Nilsson, 1995; Brown, Tickner, & Simmonds, 1969; Haigney & Westerman, 2001; McKnight & McKnight, 1993; Redelmeier & Tibshirani, 1997; Violanti, 1997). By one estimate, crashes related to cell phones cause approximately 2600 deaths, 330 000 injuries, and 1.5 million instances of property damage in the United States per year (Cohen & Graham, 2003). The true safety impact of these devices in terms of crashes and fatalities may be underestimated. Compared with alcohol-related crashes, for which there is a clear marker of a causal agent, crashes related to cell phones do not leave a telltale trace. Even in the portion of cases for which cell phone records are available, it is often difficult to precisely time-stamp the crash and relate it to the distraction. Many telematic devices leave an even weaker trace. Although hands-free cell phones may eliminate some of the visual and manual demands that undermine driving performance, many studies have shown that the cognitive demands of conversation are not eliminated with hands-free devices (Brown et al., 1969; Strayer & Johnston, 2001) and may even increase if the intelligibility of the hands-free devices is less than that of the handheld device (Matthews, Legg, & Charlton, 2003). New telematic devices have the potential to impose visual, manual, and cognitive demands that may greatly exceed those of cell phones, further undermining driving safety. Controversy regarding this new technology points to a need for a scientific basis to help legislators and designers make scientifically based decisions. Legislators and designers cannot make accurate cost-benefit analyses if they do not know the true costs and benefits. This special section brings together recent research to address the distraction potential of cell phones and emerging telematic devices. Twenty papers were submitted for consideration and eight were accepted for publication. Those accepted for publication went through a rigorous review process that was made possible by the substantial efforts of the following reviewers: D. Boehm-Davis, L. Boyle, T. Brown, J. Caird, J. Campbell, J. Casali, D. Fisher, A. Fisk, P. Green, L. Gugerty, J. Harbluk, B. Kantowitz, W. Karwowski, A. Kramer, N. Lerner, M. Manser, M. Reyes, N. Sarter, T. Schnell, R. Srinivasan, L. Tijerina, and N. Ward. The papers included in this special section demonstrate the diversity of potential distractions and diversity of methods to understand the safety consequences of these distractions. Sheridan provides a theoretical framework that uses control theory to describe distraction according to qualitatively different disturbances to various control functions associated with driving (e. …