Safety Stand Down Toolbox Talk Cellphone Use While Driving

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Safety Stand Down Toolbox Talk Cellphone Use
While Driving

• www.safetystanddown.ca

www.safetystanddown.ca
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Safety Stand Down

• Introduction
• There is an urgent need for workplace safety. The
  ripple effect of injuries is devastating to
  family, co-workers, and the company.
• Why discuss the hazards of cellphone use while
  driving? Driving remains the leading cause of
  death in our industry and in vehicle distractions
  are multiple. Cellphone use while driving is one
  of the many distractions and is very dangerous.
  Its mentally demanding, drivers reaction time
  to hazards is very poor, and it reduces the
  drivers field of view.

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Safety Stand Down

• Why are cellphones mentally demanding? Why do
  they increase drivers reaction time to hazards
  and why do they reduce the drivers field of
  view?
• There are four types of driving distraction
• VISUAL Looking for the cellphone.
• BIOMECHANICAL Manipulating a device, such as
  dialing a phone number, or for those users of
  PDAs, formulating an email response.

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Safety Stand Down

• AUDITORY Being startled by a ringing cellphone.
• COGNITIVE Mind not on the task, thinking about
  something other than driving.
• HANDS FREE cellphones reduce VISUAL and
  BIOMECHANICAL distractions however, they do
  nothing for the other two. More importantly, they
  do nothing for the COGNITIVE distraction. This
  being the most important task concentrating on
  driving.

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Safety Stand Down

• Why cellphone conversations are mentally
  demanding
• Cellphone users visualize or create in their
  minds an image of the person being spoken to.
  This takes mental effort and undermines the
  cognitive work of interpreting the driving
  environment.
• When you are engaged in a cellphone conversation,
  you have to listen to the other person, think
  about what they are saying, and plan your
  response. This takes away some resources which
  you would otherwise have applied towards driving.

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Safety Stand Down

• Cellphone drivers are trapped by social etiquette
  that will not let them drop, discontinue, or be
  unresponsive in cellphone conversations.
• Social conventions and habits govern expectations
  of how long we pause, how we respond, vocal tones
  and inflections, appropriate placement and
  expression of nonverbal cues (uh huh, um, oh,
  etc.), and levels of interest and engagement
  expressed.
• Stressful, emotional or important conversations
  are even more demanding, but even the mundane
  conversations will remove your concentration from
  the task of driving.

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Safety Stand Down

• Why cellphones increase drivers reaction time to
  hazards
• Studies have shown that drivers engaged in
  cellphone conversations
• Are four times more likely to crash than other
  drivers.
• Pose a risk comparable to alcohol impaired
  driving at 0.1 BAC Thats above the legal limit
  of Canada of 0.8.
• Significantly have poorer driving performance
  whether measured by speed control, following
  distance or reaction time.
• A major study has been performed by University of
  Utah (Psychology Professor David Strayer 2001).

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Safety Stand Down

• Results
• Reaction time while driving and using a cellphone
  is worse than the reaction time when driving
  under the influence. (Of course, neither is
  acceptable practice. The difference is that only
  one is currently against the law).
• The driver using a cellphone has travelled 14m
  longer than a driver with normal reaction.
• Drivers take longer to react to the traffic
  signals. They are twice as likely to miss a
  traffic signal when they are talking on the
  cellphone.
• Although hands free telephones reduce manual and
  visual distractions, cognitive distractions are
  still present.

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Safety Stand Down

• Why cellphone use while driving reduces your
  field of view
• Eye-movement of drivers using cellphones is
  reduced to tunnel vision because they are
  concentrating on the conversation.
• Research also found that the tunnel vision caused
  by cellphone use continued well after the
  conversation ends. Perhaps because the driver is
  still thinking about the conversation.
• The study found that most drivers seldom glance
  away from the road when talking on the cellphone.
  You should move your eyes every two seconds to
  avoid tunnel vision.

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Safety Stand Down

• Responsibilities as a driver
• Never take a phone call while driving.
• Allow passenger or voice mail box to take the
  message.
• In an emergency, pull well off the road to
  receive or send phone calls.

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Safety Stand Down

• Responsibilities as a caller
• Ask if they are driving
• End the conversation if you suspect they are
  driving

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Safety Stand Down

• Conclusion
• What can I do to help?
• Make the decision to stop and tell others as
  well. It starts with you as an individual and you
  need to modify your behaviour. Like any other
  habit, it will take time to change.
• Youll survive a missed phone call, but you
  might not survive a collision. Transport
  Canada