Driving While Distracted More Dangerous Than Supposed 418
Science News reports on recent research indicating that any kind of multitasking while driving is dangerous. Not just the obvious distraction of juggling a cell phone, but even talking to a passenger or listening to a book on tape. The researchers used a driving simulator inside an MRI machine to measure brain activations. "Attending to what someone says galvanizes language-related brain areas while simultaneously reducing activity in spatial regions that coordinate driving behavior. This finding suggests that people who combine relatively automatic tasks, such as speech comprehension and car driving, exceed a biological limit on the amount of systematic brain activity they can accommodate at one time, the researchers propose. As a result, the less-ingrained skill — in this case, driving, which is learned long after a person grasps a native language — takes a neural hit."
I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
and why did that laptop just come flying through the window?
cted
2 things I noted. (Score:2, Funny)
Secondly, is the summary actually advocating driver's training before a kid even learns to talk?
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dear Slashdot readers (Score:4, Funny)
Or maybe you can tell her off yourself [platewire.com].
Well that answers the Atlanta question.... (Score:4, Funny)
Its must be like a domino effect, one person gets distracted via cell phone and a few others get distracted by the stupid pointless slowdown of the first on a cell phone, so they call traffic advisory... etc... or someone pulls off to the side of the road and causes the same domino effect. And then there are the instigators who have a bumper sticker that reads "I slow for tailgaters"
Re:Dear Slashdot readers (Score:3, Funny)
Gruesome mess. Just awful.
When the cops finally arrived, the poor git - dressed in women's panties and covered in blood - was screaming "Can you hear me now, bitch?! Honk-honk!"
I would like to know (Score:1, Funny)
Re:I have to disagree (Score:2, Funny)
Solution (Score:3, Funny)
Baby cars!
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have to disagree (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Multitasking test (Score:2, Funny)
I do agree with your point though, people drive in an astonishingly aggressive fashion, even at high speeds where seconds are serious distances.
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have to disagree (Score:3, Funny)
Fixed that for you (if you live somewhere urban, at least).