Erie Insurance discourages taking videos
while driving in conjunction with National
Distracted Driving Awareness Month
ERIE,
Pa., March 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Everyone
knows the dangers of texting while driving, but Erie Insurance is
raising awareness of a more recent but equally dangerous trend –
vlogging while driving. The trend involves popular social
media influencers talking to a camera mounted on their dashboards
to create videos for their followers. While the behavior may
seem safe because it's hands-free, an internationally recognized
expert on distracted driving says it's anything but.
"The research is absolutely clear. Hands-free is not safe," said
Paul Atchley, Ph.D., a professor of
psychology at the University of South
Florida, who has been studying distracted driving for more
than 20 years. "It's your brain that's the problem, not touching a
phone. And we know when your brain is engaged by a phone call –
even a hands-free one – the risk for a car crash increases."
Erie Insurance showed Atchley several videos gaining buzz online
showing influencers looking back and forth between their camera and
the road, fiddling with the camera on their dashboard, and in one
case, almost swerving off the road.
"As a car insurer that wants everyone on the roads to be safe,
Erie Insurance keeps on top of the latest driving trends. This one
is particularly troubling because the people doing it probably
think it's safe since it's hands-free," said Jon Bloom, vice president of personal auto, Erie
Insurance. "We reached out to Dr. Atchley to shed light on what's
going on in the brain that makes this behavior actually much more
dangerous than people realize."
The answer, says Atchley, is that multi-tasking is a myth.
People can switch back and forth between tasks but can truly only
do one thing at a time.
Different Types of Distractions
To see how vlogging while driving, even with a mounted camera,
is distracting, it's important to understand the meaning of the
term. A distraction is something that's not related to the primary
task. If the primary task is driving, then creating a social media
video is a distraction. There are three categories of distractions:
manual, visual and cognitive. In the case of videotaping oneself
while driving, the manual distraction is taking hands off the
wheel, the visual is looking at the camera instead of the road, and
the cognitive distraction is "performing" for the camera instead of
focusing on driving.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, eight people in
the U.S. are killed every day in crashes involving a distracted
driver. The risk is the greatest for young adults under 25 who are
more likely to die in a car crash than the next three causes of
death combined.
"I hope that social media influencers who vlog while driving
realize that they are influencing a portion of the population that
is more likely to die in a car crash than the next three causes of
death combined," said Atchley. "So not only are they demonstrating
bad behavior, they're demonstrating it to a group of individuals
who already are at high risk."
Atchley encourages influencers to set a good example. "I would
ask them to do the right thing. Don't be part of the problem, be
the solution."
"We realize the vast majority of social media influencers who
are vlogging while driving are just trying to communicate with
their followers in a positive way and are not intentionally doing
anything harmful," said Bloom. "It's much more likely that they
just don't realize the danger. We hope that Dr. Atchley's insights
will encourage everyone to think twice and avoid doing anything
while driving that increases the risk of a crash."
There are no specific laws against talking to a camera mounted
on a dashboard while driving, but 24 states and D.C. prohibit using
hand-held cell phones while driving and 36 states and D.C. ban all
cell phone use by novice or teen drivers.
Here are a few tips to avoid distracted driving and help you
stay safe on the road:
- Put your phone in a safe driving mode to reduce distractions.
For example, turn off notifications and set up GPS prior to heading
out for turn-by-turn directions so you can avoid having to look
down at your phone.
- Listen to a radio show or a podcast. It will help keep you
alert but your mind will automatically tune it out when it needs
to.
- Consider carpooling with another experienced driver to share
driving duties and have a second set of eyes that can spot things
you might otherwise miss. Conversations in a vehicle, not on a
phone call, will ebb and flow with traffic demands.
- Play verbal road games such as "I Spy" to keep your mind
focused on the road and defensive driving.
Erie Insurance is sharing Atchley's insights and other
information to avoid distracted driving and released the insights
to promote National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which is in
April.
To see a video and learn more, visit
erieinsurance.com/distracted-driving-2022.
About Erie Insurance
According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in
Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 12th
largest homeowners insurer, 13th largest automobile insurer and
13th largest commercial lines insurer in the United States based on direct premiums
written. Founded in 1925, Erie Insurance is a Fortune 500 company
and the 16th largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net
premium written. Rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best, ERIE has more than 6 million policies in force
and operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia. News releases and more
information are available on ERIE's website at www.erieinsurance.com.
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SOURCE Erie Insurance Group