When we drive, millions of distractions out there compete for our eyes, hands and attention. On June 17, I wrote a blog post on the National Safety Council’s billboard campaign against cell phone use behind the wheel. A few posted comments about other distractions, such as food, arguing that the anti-cell phone campaign was misguided.  

Here’s the response I received via email today from John Ulczycki, the Natonal Safety Council’s vice president of research, communications and advocacy.

“I continue to find it very interesting how many people (like several on your blog) do not understand how cell phones are so very different from eating, drinking, listening to ipods, etc. Sure, there are a lot of things people can do while driving that can be distracting, but the level of distraction to one’s driving ability is very different between these things. For most people, eating, drinking and listening to music are miniscule risks. The scientific evidence is clear - these things simply do not lead to nearly as many crashes as cell phones do.

“Also, importantly, the period of time people do these things (the exposure to the hazard) is very different. For example, if one spilled coffee on themselves while driving, that could divert attention and perhaps lead to a crash. If one had three screaming children in the back seat for hours every day while driving, that could be hazardous. Fortunately, we don’t have 100 million people spilling coffee on themselves repeatedly while driving leading to continuous distractions for an hour or so every day. And we don’t have 100 million people getting in crashes because of screaming kids. Those are distractions, to be sure, but their involvement in crashes is minscule compared to cell phones. The reason we single out cell phones is because they lead to many more crashes because we have 100 million people engaging in the activity for hours every day. This is an understanding that clearly many people do not have.

“Thanks for your blog. Articles like this help me better understand the knowledge gap people have about the issue and it also reminds us of the continuing problem we have in reaching people who confuse their opinions and beliefs about an issue with the facts.”

– John Ulczycki, National Safety Council