Aren't Paying Attention This Car Knows

Mackellar explains that driving is inherently an action that requires a certain level of task switching if you want to do it well. You have to be able to manage speed, ensure that you’re not about to run into another car, check your mirrors. Pretty basic stuff. But add in an additional distraction like a phone call or text message and task switching goes into overdrive. “This doesn’t leave any brain space for alarm signals. These are discounted by the executive system because the driver has deliberately chosen the text message as a high priority,” he explains. “Eventually the alarms become really pressing and strong enough to override the low priority they are receiving, by which time it is often too late and something terrible happens.”