“Inattention blindness” – the reason Texas drivers can’t talk and drive at the same time

You probably see it on the roads around Houston and in neighboring cities – a driver zipping down the road with a cell-phone pressed against their ear, or they are chatting away using a hands-free device.  Talking and driving is such a common activity that most drivers think nothing of it, but it is more dangerous than most people realize.

Why?  The primary reason drivers should not talk on the phone and drive – even with a hands-free device – is because their brain just can’t effectively carry on a conversation and drive safely at the same time.  A number of research studies have shown that drivers who talk on the phone (again, with or without a hands-free device) are mentally focused more on their conversation than on the road.

These drivers are suffering from a cognitive problem called “inattention blindness”.  Drivers may have both hands on the steering wheel (no manual distractions!) and they may have both eyes on the road (no visual distractions!) but their mind is so busy keeping their cell phone conversation going that they don’t truly see what is going on around them.  They are partially blind, in other words.

One research study showed that when drivers talk on the phone, the area through the windshield that their eyes scan is much smaller than the area scanned by a driver not on the phone.  Other studies have also shown that the brains of drivers talking on the phone filter visual information, so not everything going on around them is seen in a meaningful way.

These findings are pretty serious.  This means that there are hundreds – if not thousands – of Texas drivers who are risking their own lives and the lives of those around them because they have to talk on the phone and drive at the same time.  Surely we all owe each other more – so hang up and drive!