BINGHAMTON, NY – Over the past three years, the Broome County Traffic Safety Board has been working diligently to educate motorists about the severe consequences of distracted driving, especially among teen drivers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most recent data shows that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 – 24 year olds. 

Teens have the highest crash risk of any other age group and there are lots of reasons why; inadequate driving experience, more likely to have multiple passengers in the car, more likely to use alcohol or drugs while driving and more likely to not wear seat belts. But most importantly teen drivers are easily distracted. In 2007, 21% of the crashes that occurred in Broome County were caused by driver inattention/distraction – a 2.9% decrease from the year before. Widespread education and enforcement are contributing to this decline. Last month, Broome County passed a ban on text messaging while driving. Motorists can be now be fined $150 if found texting behind the wheel. However, there is still more work to be done. 

Most people feel they are good at “multi-tasking,” but most don’t realize that the quality of work they do declines when they try to do two things at once. A study conducted out of the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suggests just that. The study took 29 college age students who were relatively experienced drivers and put them in a virtual reality display roadway. The students were to steer their vehicle using a computer mouse in one hand while listening to true/false questions and answering those questions with a computer mouse in their other hand. Scientists then measured the brain activity of each student while driving alone and while driving and being read to. They found that the part of the brain that is associated with driving, the parietal activation, decreases substantially (by 37%) when listening to someone speak. Scientists also found that when the students were being read to their weaving increased as well as the number of times they hit the side of the road.