Fully Attentive Drivers Theoretically Possible, New Research Suggests
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The existence of a fully attentive motorist, free of all distractions and focused entirely on the environment outside their vehicle, has long been considered a wild improbability—but a new report says that such a creature is at least theoretically possible.
“For those of us who study traffic safety, this is a real breakthrough,” said Brad Roberts, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor of crash testing at the University of Winnipeg. “Now we can say that human drivers, at least in theory, have the physical and neurological capacity to operate motor vehicles responsibly.”
The study appears in this week’s issue of The North American Journal of Paying Attention.
Roberts and his team, which included neurologists, optometrists, and behavioral psychologists, used powerful computers and reams of data to produce 3D images showing an alert motorist looking ahead, through the windshield, with both hands on the steering wheel.
Other images show the simulated driver checking his mirrors, scanning the virtual road for potential danger, and periodically glancing at the dashboard to ensure he is traveling at a safe speed. No electronic devices are visible.
“I fully understand how outlandish these pictures must seem,” Roberts said, “but this research is an exciting first step in our quest to produce an actual fully attentive motorist.”
“At a minimum, we now know that such a creature can exist,” he added. “On paper, anyway.”
