Distracted driving deaths up 40 per cent in Ontario compared to last year. — CTV, October 14, 2024
Drivers more likely to be distracted while using partial automation tech, study shows. — Reuters, September 17, 2024
We’re distracting ourselves to death, and while drivers are ultimately in control of decisions they make behind the wheel, it’s time for manufacturers to do more about their role in the distraction revolution. Drivers can set their phones to block notifications while they’re driving, but increasingly larger and complicated screens are becoming huge contributors to the distracted driving game. It maybe cheaper to twine all of a vehicle’s settings into one stack, but removing a driver’s attention for even five seconds is deadly.
It is illegal to drive anywhere in Canada while distracted. According to Transport Canada, the following things fall into that category: “texting, talking on the phone or to passengers, eating or drinking, or using the entertainment or navigation system”. With incidents of distracted driving escalating nearly every year, it’s unlikely it’s the makeup appliers and coffee drinkers who are jacking the numbers. They may be distracted undertaking those pursuits, but people have been doing that behind the wheel since there were wheels. This is on the electronic interruptions provided by cell phones and increasingly more intricate vehicle infotainment systems.
Ontario has the strictest laws with the highest fines and suspensions, though you can check out your province’s laws here:
Ontario Fine:
- First Conviction: $615 – $1,000, 3 Demerits
- Second Conviction: $615 – $2,000, 6 Demerits
- Third Conviction: $615 – $3,000, 6 Demerits
Ontario Licence Suspension:
- First Conviction: 3-day suspension
- Second Conviction: 7-day suspension
- Third Conviction and Further: 30-day suspension
The CTV report is appalling. A 40% year over year is about real people. “The OPP primarily patrols the province’s highways and says it has recorded a total of 296 fatal crashes so far this year – of those, 63 people were killed in collisions where inattentiveness was the main cause.”
Sixty-three people are dead — so far — because somebody had to return a text. Or mess with their song list. While numbers did dip a little during the first year of the pandemic (Global News graph here), estimates for fatalities due to distracted drivers hovers in the 15 to 20% range. Speeding, impairment and lack of seatbelt use are the fellow all-stars.
How can auto manufacturers help with distracted driving?
The answer should be getting phones out of hands, but distraction from the actual vehicles is also escalating. Aren’t manufacturers using genius development in technology to make us safer? Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come. The IIHS in the U.S. recently published the results of a study seeking to discover if partial automation — those things that prevent you from plowing into a suddenly stopped vehicle ahead, or to keep you from drifting from your lane — is successfully curbing some of a driver’s worse reflexes and making them safer. Maybe they hadn’t counted on the unintended consequences. The study followed the behaviour of drivers using Tesla’s Autopilot and Volvo’s Pilot Assist.
“The study with Tesla’s Autopilot used 14 people who drove over 12,000 miles (19,300 km) with the system, triggering 3,858 attention-related warnings. On average, drivers responded in about three seconds, usually by nudging the steering wheel, mostly preventing an escalation. The study with Volvo’s Pilot Assist had 29 volunteers who were found to be distracted for 30% of the time – ‘exceedingly high’ according to the authors,” from this report. Coincidentally, the Tesla system is back in the headlines after NHTSA just ordered another federal probe following four crashes.
We do not drive autonomous cars, but the more our cars do for us with ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems), the less we do for ourselves. The chasm between truly self-driving cars and the ones currently on our roads is littered with the bodies of people who trust too much.
“Drivers were much more likely to check their phones, eat a sandwich or do other visual-manual activities while using Volvo’s Pilot Assist partial automation system than when driving unassisted…The tendency to multitask also increased over time for some drivers as they grew more comfortable with the technology, while others were more distracted while using the system from the start.” IIHS President David Harkey: “If you train them to think that paying attention means nudging the steering wheel every few seconds, then that’s exactly what they’ll do.”
I’ve called lane departure systems ‘text assist’ for years now, much to the chagrin of public relations people. But I’ve been along for the ride since my first cell phone in 1990, and we all knew there would be no putting this genie back in the bottle. From the uber-important people who can’t risk being out of touch for even a minute, to most of the rest of us whose Neanderthal brains are hardwired to respond to the dopamine hit when a notification goes off, there was no way cell phones combined with driving was ever going to end well.
We’re idiots. Consider this CAA poll from 2021: 47% of respondents “admit that they have typed out or used the voice-memo feature to send a message while driving.” Points for honesty, I guess. I’m sure it’s higher than that. But here’s the dummy chaser: from the same poll, “Canadians say that texting while driving is one of the biggest threats to their personal safety on the road.” I can’t even, as the kids say. How do you convince new drivers their phones are deadly distractions if you’re using your own when you drive?
“Among drivers who report cell phone use while driving, 42% reported reading a text, 33% reported sending a text,” say this survey. Driver getting ticketed for phone use twice in seven minutes? We got that too. Trucker speeding while watching a movie? Check. Killing five people ‘cuz you’re watching TikTok? It happened.
An acquaintance recently bought a new vehicle. I anticipated the excitement of what was a near 12-year upgrade over their previous car. Instead? “I hate it. It’s got this ridiculously big screen and I can’t turn the stupid thing off.”
My small car has a small screen. It also has a button — a real button — labelled DISPLAY that I can use to black out the screen. When I recently rented a Ford Mustang Mach-E, the size of the screen rivalled my laptop, an absolute blemish and testament to total distraction. I know; all the cool kids are doing it. It’s monstrous. And by the time I’m threading down through layers of screens in any car to do something like put on seat heaters or lower volumes, my distraction from the road is complete and deadly.
European car manufacturers will be facing new rules in January 2026 that will require them to use more physical controls for more functions if they want to qualify for five-star safety ratings.
“The overuse of touchscreens is an industry-wide problem, with almost every vehicle-maker moving key controls onto central touchscreens, obliging drivers to take their eyes off the road and raising the risk of distraction crashes,” said Matthew Avery, director of strategic development at Euro NCAP”. If they want the coveted high safety ratings, they will have to bring back more buttons, dials and stalks. Could we get them to ditch pushbutton starts while they’re at it? More importantly, can we get North American agencies to start demanding the same safety considerations?
Drivers need to keep their hands off their phones. Manufacturers have to keep drivers’ eyes on the road. Multi-tasking is not a thing, and it most certainly isn’t a thing when you’re driving a vehicle.
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