Distraction while driving: leave your smart watches from the eyes

The study carried out by the Tech3lab of HEC Montreal has highlighted one of the main causes of road accidents: distraction while driving.The heart of the problem is the driver's reaction time to the unexpected.A longer reaction time, which can be caused by several reasons, such as eating, looking for an address or speaking on the phone, especially.

Tech3lab's study aimed to compare smart watches to mobile phones by examining the effects of sending text or vocals messages on the reactions and concentration of drivers.

Using a driving simulator that measured the responses of 31 drivers to different types of alerts in an intelligent watch and a mobile phone, the researchers discovered that the smart watch generates more distraction than phonesmobiles and vocal assistants, activated by voice in certain recent vehicles.

The driver's gaze is less focused on driving when he receives written alerts on his smart watch rather than on his mobile phone.On the other hand, the concentration of the person holding the steering wheel is higher when he hears an alert via the car speaker.In short, the safest way to receive or send an alert is the voice via the vocal assistance system of the car, a solution tolerated in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.

Distraction behind the wheel, according to the SAAQ

The study conducted by HEC Montreal Tech3lab confirms that it is dangerous to use an intelligent device by driving-or an intelligent watch in this case-, but it does not say everything.

A field survey carried out by the Quebec Automobile Insurance Company (SAAQ) in 2017 reveals that there is much more than intelligent devices as sources of distraction.The cigarette was at the origin of 22.3 % of the distractions observed, before text messages (read/write), with 13.1 %.Other important distractions are, in order: drink (9.5 %), telephone (9.1 %), handle or watch an electronic device (8.7 %), eat (8.3 %), presenceof an animal (7.2 %), the interior equipment of the car (5.7 %) and the use of a headset (4.5 %).If we combine the percentages of the three causes related to the handling of an intelligent device, the percentage climbs to 30.9 %, or almost one in three distraction listed by the study.

A survey conducted by the SOM firm in January 2021 (following the Saaq 2020 advertising advertising campaign) demonstrated that a very large majority of Quebecers judge the driving distraction as a fairly (44 %) problem (44 %)or very serious (50 %).In 2015, it was 98 % of the respondents who judged that driving distraction was a problem.

To the question "Among these sources of distraction, which is your greatest source of distraction by driving?"», 16 % of respondents replied: write or read a text message driving, 4 % chose: talk on the cell phone by driving, and 4 % replied: write or read an email by driving.

Be more attentive: the basic rule

The human being makes mistakes when he is driving, but to avoid being in an unfortunate situation, it is better to remain attentive.Here are some tips to get there:

1.Our reaction time is slower when we have a conversation while driving.If you must absolutely converse behind the wheel, know that the hands -free device is the only tolerated in the beautiful province.But, the safest is to stop in a safe place and turn off the engine.

2.It is important to know the location of the multiple commands of your vehicle.If you rent a vehicle, take the time to study the dashboard before taking the road.Start looking for the headlight button or wipers by leaving your eyes while driving is not optimal.

3.If you do not know the road to take for your next destination, take the time to enter the address in the vehicle navigation system before leaving.Entering an address by driving is an arduous and dangerous task!

4.If you overwhelm you, you have to stop as quickly as possible in a safe place.A short nap, a walk or a small coffee could be sufficient to hit the road safely.

5.Do not spend too much time across the many applications of the touch screen of your vehicle.Every second that you grant to your audio channel or any other function is a second too much where your attention is not on the road.

>> À lire aussi : Comment limiter les distractions sur votre téléphone et Dans quelles circonstances peut-on utiliser un cellulaire au volant ?