1. Managing Distractions
Chapter 8
Managing Distractions

2. For Your Quiz You should be able to:
Explain the difference between driver inattention and distracted driving.
List the four categories of driver distractions.
Explain why dialing a cell phone or texting is distracting (hint: relates to all four categories of driver distractions).
Explain how you can minimize distractions inside your vehicle.
Explain why outside the vehicle distractions can be more difficult to deal with than in the car distractions. 2

3. Driver Inattention & Distracted Driving
Look but don’t see
Unintentional
Distracted Driving
Choice
Intentional
Driver Inattention – driver’s focus & attention drift to anything other than the driving task.
Distracted Driving – when an event, person, place, or thing draw’s a person’s attention away from the driving task.
What might be some examples of distracted driving?

4. Distraction Classifications
National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration (NHTSA) groups distracted drivers into four categories:
Cognitive Distractions
Visual Distractions
Auditory Distractions
Biomechanical Distractions
Cognitive Distractions – Not mentally focusing on the primary task of driving. (Ex. Daydream, talking on a cell phone)
Visual Distractions – Anything that causes you to take your eyes off the road.
Auditory Distractions – Any noise that diverts a driver’s attention away from the driving task. (Crying baby, siren)
Biomechanical Distractions – Any mechanical act not specifically related to the driving task. (pushing a button, turning a dial, drinking)

5. Cell Phones Auditory Distraction Cognitive Distraction
Visual Distraction
Biomechanical Distraction
Class Activity
Auditory Distraction because you are listening to conversation instead of traffic noises.
Conversations on the phone are cognitive distractions. Mind has to picture who you are talking to and you focus more on the conversation than on driving.
Visual Distraction when dialing, receiving, or texting.
Biomechanical Distraction when dialing, receiving, and texting.
Have one student who has a cell phone and is proficient in text messaging volunteer to be a driver who will catch tennis balls that will be tossed at him or her. Have five students form a half circle around the driver. Give each student two tennis balls. Tell these five students to toss underhand one ball at a time (according to a pre-assigned order) without more than a 1 second delay between tosses at the driver. Record how many of the balls the driver caught. Then, have the driver use a cell phone to text a sentence stating the purpose of this activity while the students repeat the ball tossing activity. Discuss why there was a significant difference in the number of balls that were caught while not using a cell phone and while texting a message. Repeat the activity and have students take turns being the driver.

6. Vehicle Equipment and Controls
GPS devices
Video Entertainment Systems
Sound Systems
All of these devices can be a distraction if you are not familiar with the controls of these devices.

7. Other Distractions Animals/Insects Food and Drink Passengers
Loose Objects
Pets can be a distraction. The number one animal killer of people is deer. The number two animal killer of people are bees.
Eating and drinking can both be a visual and biomechanical distraction. Spilled drinks cause many crashes.
Passengers can become an auditory, cognitive, biomechanical, and visual distraction.
Loose objects can block your vision and can also become projectiles if you stop quickly.

8. Distractions Outside the Vehicle
Traffic Signs
Debris
Crashes
Traffic signs can send confusing messages, especially if you don’t catch the whole message.
Debris on the road can cause distractions if you are not sure how to deal with it.
Gawking and rubber-necking can cause rear end collisions to happen because you focus on the crash outside and not the car ahead.

9. For Your Quiz You should be able to:
Explain the difference between driver inattention and distracted driving.
List the four categories of driver distractions.
Explain why dialing a cell phone or texting is distracting (hint: relates to all four categories of driver distractions).
Explain how you can minimize distractions inside your vehicle.
Explain why outside the vehicle distractions can be more difficult to deal with than in the car distractions. 9