Today I played a short flash game on the New York Times webpage, which was created as a test for people to really see how texting while driving can and will reduce your reaction time to be able to maneuver correctly.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/19/technology/20090719-driving-game.html
I do not think the game accurately portrayed what an actual situation of driving is even remotely like. The game was fairly easy once you were able to switch lanes way before your car got to the correct gate, which was even easier since the gate you had to go in was color coded green. In real life, there would be tons of cars around, and all the gates (assuming this was supposed to be like a toll booth) would look pretty similar.
While I do not think the game is accurate, it does show you the basic idea that doing something such as texting, while driving, will make you slower to react. I myself have only ever texted once or twice while driving, and if I did, it was probably while I was stopped at a train crossing or traffic jam, as it is just too dangerous. Just once second of looking away from the road could lead to any number of disasters, so reducing the amount of distractions you have (and a cellphone is a pretty big distraction) is what I try to do mostly (though I suppose the radio is fine, it doesn't take your eyes off the road). Even the radio can be a problem sometimes, I don't know how some people manage to keep their hearing when the put the radio up to max volume (usually along with maximum bass) and that can be dangerous to others as well (you can't hear cops/firetrucks/ambulance trying to move people to the side).
Enough with the rambling though. The one thing about this game that was interesting was the results. Not the gates I missed or my slower reaction time, but that damned women. I did not see the women (colored the same as the road as to make it more difficult). Which made me wonder if she was off to the side, did I hit her, or what. I don't know what happened, but there was some women I missed. If I hadn't been texting, I'm almost sure I would have noticed her, so I gotta give the game some credit for that. You might miss something if you text, and that could be a fatal mistake.
Anyone else play the game? I'm interested to see what people think of it.
I also didn't notice the woman! That game was bonkers in terms of the driving but very interesting in terms of measuring reaction time. Over the summer I texted while driving a lot and will definitely try to stop. I rear-ended someone while i was trying to swat a fly though.
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