Preventing distracted driving means targeting distractions as well as drivers

CORRECTION: Dr. Peter Burns of Transport Canada was incorrectly paraphrased in the original version of this article as saying billboards were a source of concern, when in fact he was speaking about emerging technologies. Also, Robyn Robertson said there were between 2,000 and 3,000 electronic billboards in the United States, not 32,000 as originally reported. Canadian Underwriter apologizes to the speakers for making these errors.

Preventing distracted driving means more than just blaming drivers — it means targeting the sources of distraction themselves, a panelist told a Driven to Distraction conference in Toronto held on Mar. 1.

“It is not enough to place all responsibility on the driver to stay focused on the road when the environment around them is begging for their attention,” Dr. Peter Burns of Transport Canada told the conference, which was organized by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF). “To be really effective, we need to focus on the distractions themselves.”

Burns noted emerging vehicle technologies are one such distraction worthy of attention. “Opportunities for distraction have never been greater as developers continue to find ways to distract drivers’ attention,” he said. “Driver attention seems to have become a valuable market resource.”

For example, GPs systems and other navigation tools (including rear cameras installed in new vehicles), in addition to smart phones, portable media, video and music devices that can be plugged into vehicle outlets, can become a distraction.

One presenter noted the irony of an advertisement for vehicle safety that appeared on the side of a bus in Europe, thus attempting to distract drivers’ eyes away from the road.

Robyn Robertson of TIRF mentioned researchers are currently discussing the effects of giant billboards alongside highways. There are 400,000 such billboards in the United States; of particular concern is that 2,000 to 3,000 have digital displays involving movement or animation.

On-board systems for navigation and video displays are becoming more prominent in cars, and could be an emerging source of distraction, Burns suggested. Particularly as the glass screens in vehicles begin to get larger. “The battle of big screens moves out of your home cinema and into your car,” he said.