Last week, I blogged about a recent research study from Drexel’s psychology department that suggests texting while driving is a psychological distraction with measurable effects, even under the simplest (simulated) road conditions.
Today, Marcella Gonsalves, director of the Executive MPH program at Drexel Sacramento, brings a public health perspective on this issue — and cell phone calling and other sorts of distractions while driving.
Gonsalves argues that our lives could be safer AND better if we simplify:
I think our state laws and most folks are grossly ignoring that talking on a cell phone and any distraction whatsoever hinders our ability to navigate our one thousand pound hunks of metal down the highway. Not to mention, multi-tasking in the car adds more stress to our already demanding lives.
If we want to protect ourselves while we are on the move, we need to simplify.
Perhaps we need to make our calls while parked at our office desks or in front of a cup of our favorite tea, not while we are flying down the freeway. After all, we can’t truly have an eloquent and thoughtful conversation when we’re trying to ignore the mullet-clad truck driver in the next lane, count out exact change for the tollbooth, and navigate through road construction.
Read her full post, “Just Drive”.
Look for one more blog post tomorrow to round out the School of Public Health’s National Public Health Week series.
