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ORIGINAL ARTICLES: S P McEvoy, M R Stevenson, and M Woodward The impact of driver distraction on road safety: results from a representative survey in two Australian states Inj Prev 2006; 12: 242-247 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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TV's portrayal of driver distraction: Legitimising bad practice

Tony H Reinhardt-Rutland   (26 September 2006)

TV's portrayal of driver distraction: Legitimising bad practice 26 September 2006
Tony H Reinhardt-Rutland, Reader in Psychology University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Nothern Ireland BT37 0QB Send letter to journal: Re: TV's portrayal of driver distraction: Legitimising bad practice ah.reinhardt-rutland{at}ulster.ac.uk Tony H Reinhardt-Rutland	McEvoy et al (2006) provide empirical evidence to support the case that distractions for the driver are an important feature of road crashes. There should be nothing too surprising in this; after all, many authorities recognise that an enforcible code of behaviour must be applied to public-service drivers; bus passengers are not likely to feel at ease with a driver whose attention deviates from the task in hand. The real problem is of course the private automobile driver, always a difficult creature to control. No doubt, education would help. However, this is an uphill task: for example, I imagine few would suggest that restrictions on mobile-phone use in jurisdictions such as the UK have been notably successful, even when backed up by punishment (1). Nonetheless, one practice that seems unnecessarily gratuitous is the portrayal of driving on TV: frequently, interviews or monologues to the camera are undertaken while the speaker is driving, perhaps in fast-moving and heavy traffic. Often, this adds absolutely nothing to the content of the programme; for example, I can think of a recent monologue by the presenter of a BBC TV programme about sites of battles that predate mass car usage by many years! In the UK, there has been much comment about driving-related programmes - BBC's "Top Gear" is a prime example - which seem to promote a cavalier attitude to road safety. I argue that the problem is more insidious. Policies to control driver distractions might be given greater legitimacy in the eyes of the driving public, if a strict code of conduct could be imposed on the media, with the abolishment of programme presentation while driving as a priority. References (1) Walker L, Williams J, Janrozik K. Unsafe driving behaviour and four wheel drive vehicles: observational study. BMJ 2007 333:71