QUESTION:
First of all I do appreciate your column. I only hope that many of the lousy drivers in Greater Vancouver will take the time to read it.
Hands free or holding the phone, if I'm engaged in talking won't I be just as distracted either way?
Like so many drivers I sometimes drive with one hand on the wheel therefore I can't see much difference safety wise.
Just curious.
Michael Weatherall West Vancouver
Dear Mr. Weatherall:
Thank you for your question - and your endorsement.
You raise an issue that many people bring to my attention when I stop them for using their cellphones while driving.
The first part of your question has a simple answer: Yes. Anything you do while driving that is not part of driving will act as a distraction.
However, there is a difference between simply driving with one hand on the wheel and being distracted. Reading a bumper sticker, looking out your side window at a rainbow, even thinking about last night's filet mignon, will draw your attention away from driving. I think it's important to realize that when it comes to distracted driving legislation, lawmakers are not necessarily talking about absolutes; it is clear to all of us that barring cellphone use will not eliminate driving distractions.
You've hit the nail on the head with your question. Scientists and researchers have consistently found that driving ability is impaired when a person is having a cellphone conversation, whether on a hands-free device or not, to an extent that is comparable to driving with a blood/alcohol content of .08. Some scientists even argue that hands-free laws make driving more dangerous by effectively condoning the distracting practice.
Clearly, hands-free devices do not eliminate risk. Studies show that multitasking in general, whether it involves a cellphone or any other distraction, makes a driver four times more likely to be in a collision than those who are focused on driving.
Neither have most efforts to deter cellphone use been aided by the companies that stand to benefit from the sale of such devices. Cellphone and electronics companies acknowledge the risks of multitasking behind the wheel, and yet they actively promote multimedia systems for cars that include iPods and GPS navigation devices, sometimes even playing on the distractions they cause, saying they're so good, "you might just miss your exit!" Automobile companies likewise acknowledge the dangers, but they too continue to push toward further enhancing the virtual environment inside vehicles, even looking toward being capable of offering Internet surfing by voice command while you drive.
The problem is bigger still. People today have developed an addiction to using their devices. There is intense social pressure to stay in touch.
Aside from the social pressure, studies have shown we have developed a physiologically based dependence on the "thrill" we get from our devices - we experience a squirt of dopamine into our brains when we use them. Many of us don't realize or acknowledge this.
In fact, we're the worst judges of our own abilities when it comes to distracted driving and our devices. We correctly identify the most dangerous distraction on our roads: cellphones. But we think others are dangerous, not ourselves.
I've heard too many stories of tragedy arising from cellphone use while driving. We need to be real about this dangerous activity and take a different perspective. Rather than asking "How far can we reasonably go?" in allowing distractions inside our cars, we should be asking "Why do we want anything to distract us at all?"
Ask anyone who's killed someone on the road while using a cellphone what life's been like for them since it happened. No call is worth risking a life. When that reality comes knocking on our door it will already be too late to change our behaviour.
My advice, again: Put it in the trunk.
Peter DeVries District West Response Sergeant North Vancouver RCMP
Follow Peter on Twitter at www. twitter.com/rcmpdevries
If you have a question for Ask a Cop, email it to editor@nsnews. com or mail it to the attention of the editor, North Shore News, Suite 100 - 126 East 15th St., North Vancouver, B.C., V7L 2P9.
