In preparation for an upcoming presentation to parents and students at a high school about distracted driving and texting while driving, I have put together a quiz, fourteen questions. My purpose is to improve understanding and stimulate thinking about these topics. I invite you to take it. Without apology, I will tell you that there are one or two trick questions. Answers will follow in the next post.
1. Complete this sentence: In general, “distracted driving” means __________ off the wheel, __________ off the road, or __________ off the driving situation.
2. In one or two sentences, explain what “cognitive blindness” is.
3. According to experts, if you are talking on a cellphone while driving, approximately what percentage of your brain is diverted or distracted from the traffic situation ahead of and around you?
4. True or false: Most distracted driving these days is texting, which means that distracted driving is mostly a problem for teens and drivers under age 25.
5. In either yards or feet, how far does a car travel in three seconds at 30 miles per hour, and at 60 miles per hour?
6. Explain the three steps involved in a driver avoiding an accident.
7. On average, how long does it take to compose and send a text message?
8. Based on your answers to Questions 5 and 6, explain why distracted driving is dangerous.
9. Based on your answers to Questions 5, 6, and 7, explain why texting while driving is dangerous. [Bonus: based on your answers to Questions 1, 5, 6, and 7, explain why texting is the most dangerous form of distracted driving.]
10. According to experts, how many times more dangerous (likelihood of a crash) is texting while driving than the safest driving?
a. Three times
b. Six times
c. Sixteen times
d. Twenty-three times
11. If you are licensed to drive in State A, but you are driving in State B, whose electronic device/cellphone/texting/distracted driving laws do you have to follow – your “home” state or the state in which you are driving?
12. Most electronic device/cellphone/texting/distracted driving laws apply when the car is “in motion.” If the ignition is on, but your car is stopped because your foot is on the brake, is your car in motion?
13. Is using a Global Positioning System (GPS) to help you with directions to your destination a form of distracted driving?
14. Many state laws that ban the use of electronic devices while driving exempt devices that provide “audio.” So, if you are in a state with this type of law, and while driving you are surfing the Internet on a device that is also able to play music, are you violating that law?
