Tool Box Talk: Fatal Distraction

Fatal Distraction

Cell phones can be a great convenience and a great tool . . . however their use at inappropriate times and inappropriate places can certainly be risky.

The following two accounts are case studies that have been used to examine the effect of distraction caused by cell phone use.

Of course in both cases the effect is death!

In British Columbia Canada a new road was being preloaded with sand and gravel. An engineer walked across a dump truck staging area next to the road while talking on his cell phone. A spotter was using hand signals to direct a loaded dump truck backwards along the staging area. The truck driver was maintaining visual contact with the spotter in his side-view mirror. The dump truck’s backup alarm was working normally. Two or three similar backup alarms were also sounding from other nearby mobile equipment. The spotter turned away from the dump truck for about 10 seconds to check for other vehicles. He continued to motion the dump truck to reverse, without maintaining visual contact with it. During this 10-second interval, the engineer stepped onto the staging area between the spotter and the reversing dump truck. Still talking on the cell phone, he stopped directly behind the reversing vehicle with his back to it. The driver could not see the engineer and continued to reverse as directed by the spotter. The spotter did not see the engineer. The engineer was unaware that the dump truck was approaching. One of the dump truck’s rear tires snagged the back of the engineer’s leg, pulling him under the truck. He died from his injuries.

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, a 20-year-old woman ran a red light while talking on a cell phone. The driver’s vehicle slammed into another vehicle crossing with the green light directly in front of her. The vehicle she hit was not the first car through the intersection, it was the third or fourth. The police investigation determined the driver never touched her brakes and was traveling 48 mph when she hit the other vehicle. The crash cost the life of a 12-year-old boy. Witnesses told investigators that the driver was not looking down, not dialing the phone, or “texting.” She was observed looking straight out the windshield talking on her cell phone as she sped past four cars and a school bus stopped in the other south bound lane of traffic. Researchers have called this crash a classic case of inattention blindness caused by the cognitive distraction of a cell phone conversation.

Vision is the most important sense for safe driving. Yet, drivers using hands-free phones (and those using handheld phones) have a tendency to “look at” but not “see” objects. Estimates indicate that drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment. Distracted drivers experience what researchers call inattention blindness, similar to that of tunnel vision. Drivers are looking out the windshield, but they do not process everything in the roadway environment that they must know to effectively monitor their surroundings, seek and identify potential hazards, and respond to unexpected situations. (Ref: NSC Distracted driving study)

It only takes a second or two for distractions from cell phone use to take a fatal turn.

Are you always totally aware of your surroundings while talking on cell phone? You probably think you are but your brain will tell you that you aren’t.

And a bonus quote from M. Scott Peck:

“Until you value yourself you won’t value your time; until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

Thanks for the share, TO!