LaneFX® Auto Safety Series: Driver Distraction Study - Detailed Findings Sponsored by Drivaware Inc.

¹Experimental research conducted by Drs. Frank Drews, David Strayer, and Dennis L. Crouch of the University of Utah.
² Driving while “using a cell phone" does not distinguish between talking on a cell phone, text messaging or other cell device functions. Study does however distinguish the use of “hands-free cell phones” which are represented in a separate category.
³ The study considers the sum of the first two blind spot checking response possibilities ("always" and "almost always") as good driving behavior and active blind spot awareness. Conversely, the sum of the last two blind spot checking response possibilities (“Only When I Think It’s Needed” and “I Don’t Check My Blind Spot”) as poor driving behavior and inadequate blind spot awareness.
⁴ Study did not examine compound effect of multiple distractions occurring simultaneously.
⁵ Requests for raw study data will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis with priority given to educational and and non-profit organizations.

While onboard navigation are tremendously popular in-car options, they still require that the driver remains intent on listening to and following the driving direction on the on-board screen. Perhaps that is why the blind spot awareness scores for this technology were not as good as originally expected⁴:

Without Using Cell Phone		With Cell Phone Use
Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior	Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior
134	44	98	80
baseline		74%	110%

Attending to personal care is an activity we dread seeing in other drivers. Applying makeup and shaving are all among the driving no-no's that make us oblivious to our surrounding lanes and blind spots. The numbers in this case do not support the danger of this distraction. Possibly a statistical anomaly or likely due to the fact that no likes to admit that we all occasionally engage in this distraction ourselves⁴:

Without Using Cell Phone		With Cell Phone Use
Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior	Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior
48	41	43	46
baseline		<16%>	100%

We initially anticipated a significant decline of attention to blind spots when small children were onboard. We assumed that attending to backseat children may contend for the driver's focus on his/her adjacent lanes. Not so say the the numbers. This is likely due to the elevated sense of awareness that the driver gains with such precious cargo onboard.⁴:

Without Using Cell Phone		With Cell Phone Use
Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior	Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior
70	49	87	32
baseline		<32%>	<39%>

Hands-free cell phone (like Bluetooth technology) were a great welcome to in-vehicle telecommunications because it it freed the driver's hands and presumably kept them at the wheel. In our research, though we found only minor improvement in blind spot awareness between drivers using traditional handsets and and drivers using hands-free systems³:

Without Using Cell Phone		With Cell Phone Use
Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior	Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior
65	30	39	56
baseline		79%	117%

Cell phone use was by far the worst offender in compromising a driver's ability to check his/her blind spots. It has been likened to driving while having a blood alcohol level near the legal limit¹. Drivers using conventional cell phones² were more than four times as likely to ignore their blind spots- The highest of any distraction measured in this study³:

Without Using Cell Phone		With Cell Phone Use
Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior	Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior
243	130	71	302
baseline		42%	478%

Driver fatigue is a natural phenomenon that affects us all from time to time. What's surprising about this result is how quickly we forget what's in the adjacent lane as we get tired behind the wheel. The net effect⁴ is that a fatigued driver is just as likely to ignore checking his/her blind spot as a driver using a cell phone. Here's the correlation by the numbers:

Driver Well Rested		Driver Fatigued
Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior	Safe Lane Change Behavior	Unsafe Lane Change Behavior
292	176	58	410
baseline		55%	416%

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Drivaware reminds you to always wear your seatbelt, exercise caution when merging or changing lanes, obey all traffic laws and always rely on your primary senses in making driving decisions. Drivaware and LaneFX are trademarks of Drivaware Inc. Patents Pending. Copyright © 2005-08. All rights reserved. Drivaware Inc. 1756 Plymouth Rd., Suite #500, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 USA.

Driver Distraction Research:
Review / Download Detailed Findings
Study Methodology & Respondent Demographics
Request Raw Study Data ⁵

Ongoing Survey:
Take America's Blind Spot Challenge

For each study participant, we asked them to rate their likelihood of checking their blind spot without the presence of a particular distraction and then asked again with such distraction applied. The possible responses measured were as follows:

Always

Almost Always

Only When I Think It's Needed

I Don't Check My Blind Spot