"Supertaskers" Can Safely Use Mobile Phones While Driving 388
nk497 writes "While most of us are dangerous when texting, chatting on a phone or being otherwise distracted while driving, one in 40 are actually just fine with such distractions. In a small study, such 'supertaskers' were just as good at driving when carrying on a conversation over a hands-free phone as they were when fully focused. That said, the researchers warned that most people are much worse at driving while chatting and shouldn't do it, adding: 'Given the number of individuals who routinely talk on the phone while driving, one would have hoped that there would be a greater percentage of supertaskers.'"
That 1 in 40 aside, reader crimeandpunishment writes "The US Transportation Department is calling for a permanent ban on texting while driving, for interstate truck and bus drivers. An interim ban has been in place since January. The government says it is doing everything it can to make roads safer by reducing the threat of distracted drivers."
Re:Current Slashdot Poll (Score:2, Informative)
I don't even know if there's a correlation between 'supertaskers' and super geniuses.
Back in high school I took a class that accepted only 28 students from the entire class of 450 (an advanced class for math and science). However, I don't recall anyone being especially good at driving and one was certainly absolutely awful, crashing 3 cars due to being distracted by conversations (in his case he would always want to face the person he was talking to--not a good thing if you're a passenger talking to him while he's driving). He was also one of the academically best students in the entire class.
However, there certainly does seem to be a group of supertaskers that can easily handle talking on the phone while driving. I think the key is prioritizing. Some people focus too much on the conversation while driving at the cost of not paying enough attention to what's going on around them. Others will focus less on the conversation as needed while driving.
On the other hand I don't see how anyone can drive and text safely since there is no way to text without at least briefly taking your eyes off the road, unless you can touch-type using your thumb I guess.
Re:Ambulance (Score:4, Informative)
That's not necessarily a supertasker - that's being well trained and experienced.
Re:Yup.. (Score:3, Informative)
Wha, you don't know about 9600 BAUD modem-based gateways used to submit comments to slashdot?
If he gets disconnected in the middle of typing, it disconnects, to avoid loss of the message, the other side of the gateway dutifully posts it, including the last bit of noise, and the 'NO CARRIER' error reported by the modem.
Another fun thing to do with those gateways is to post the following on every slashdot comment,
+++ATH0
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FB GUR SRYYBJF HFVAT PURNC XABPX-BSS ZBQRZF GUNG PNA'G VZCYRZRAG CNGRAGRQ +++ QRYNL GRPUABYBTL, JVYY OR QVFPBAARPGRQ ORSBER GURL PNA SVAVFU ERNQVAT LBHE TYBEVBHF PBZZRAG.
CYNPR GUNG FGEVAT ORSBER NAL FRPERG GRKG GBB, CERSRENOYL FGEBATYL RAPELCGRQ.
SFV LZWF JWSDDQ UGFXMKW LZWE, TQ FWYSLANW 8-KZAXLAFY LZW EGKL AEHGJLSFL LWPL
Re:Task Saturation (Score:1, Informative)
There's a saying amongst some of the older craniums regarding that...
"A good pilot can do multiple things at once. A great pilot never does."
Re:Are they just worse drivers to begin with? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not "anyone" just most people. (Score:3, Informative)
Reductio absurdium? Yeah, I'm sure I've got that wrong, but you get the idea. If you're sitting at a desk, banging away on a keyboard, only some absurd set of circumstances can possibly enable you to injure or kill someone with your crummy typing.
Even if you ARE a super geek, and even if you can multitask better than Windows, Linux, and OS X combined, you have a RESPONSIBILITY to put all your silly shit aside, and pay attention to your driving, so that you DO NOT injure or kill someone.
Phrased in a much more direct manner, Pull your head out of your ass, and get your priorities straight!
Re:Self-correcting problem (Score:3, Informative)
Education (Score:1, Informative)
Pilots are trained for the ability to prioritize tasks while multitasking.
Aviate - navigate - communicate
In that order. Its not all that hard once you get your priorities straight. Respond to the tower -after- youve finished making your turn, adjust transponder -after- finishing your climbout... in the car tell your friend to hold on a sec while youre crossing that intersection, wait until -after- that lane change to fiddle with the cd player.
Using these methods i have been able to navigate LA rush hour in a 18 wheeler whilst talking to dispatch on the phone without any danger to myself or others.
Like you said, we dont -really- want drivers to glue their eyes to the road with 100% attention over a 6 hour drive anyway, it leads to fatigue and highway hypnosis... however we also dont want people watching cable tevee on the dashboard, we need to find a happy median somewhere in between.