Re: RoadAwareness.ca - Distracted Driving Experiment
Thanks for organizing this event Shaun!
My experiences:
I've been at this track 2 previous times so I'm pretty familiar with the track. During the 1 handed benchmark run, I was pretty comfortable even without power steering. I wasnt as fast around the track as I would be with 2 hands but still maintained a decent speed. My mind was 100% dedicated to driving.
The "chatting on the phone" test was quite a different experience on the track compared to driving on the road as everything happens so much faster on the track. I was somewhat comfortable with doing this as many of us have experienced talking to someone else while driving. I did notice that my conversation was delayed, as well as my driving. My mind was 80% dedicated to driving.
The test I was most surprised with was texting while driving. I had to take both my eyes and concentration away from the track. Although placing the phone directly in front of me helped see what is ahead using peripheral vision, but since my focus was on my phone at times, it was difficult to see small obstacles on the track such as the pylon. I was more aware of the obstacles and other drivers as I approached them, but if something were to jump out unexpectedly, avoiding them would be difficult. Since I never text and drive, this was a new experience for me, which probably made my driving a bit worse. My mind was 60% dedicated to driving.
All in all, although I was somewhat comfortable with some of the distracted driving tasks, my mind was never 100% dedicated to driving. In the case that a driving task requires 100% of my concentration such as an unexpected skid or a human/animal running out in front of me, I would have doubts that they will successfully be avoided.
