Distracted to Death
The War on Cars
The War on Cars, LLC
4.9 • 937 Ratings
🗓️ 18 July 2022
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Traffic fatalities in the U.S. are at a 16-year high. One reason? Driver distraction. Today's automobiles are loaded with an almost cinematic level of screens, featuring apps and infotainment systems that blur the distinction between car and smartphone... and that overload the brain's cognitive abilities to a level not even trained military pilots can handle. Russ Mitchell, a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, joins us to discuss his recent story on the deadly consquences of carmakers' and tech companies' race to turn the inside of automobiles into what one researcher called "a candy store of distraction." Plus, why you should never talk on the phone — even hands free — when you're behind the wheel of a car.
This episode is sponsored by Radpower Bikes and Cleverhood.
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LINKS:
"'We are killing people': How technology has made your car 'a candy store of distraction.'" Russ Mitchell in the Los Angeles Times.
Take the "Selective Attention Test" before you listen to this episode.
Read more about Dr. David Strayer's research on distracted driving, via the Applied Cognition Lab at the University of Utah.
Apple's CarPlay is "the smarter, safer way to use your iPhone in the car," according to Apple.
Pick up official War on Cars merch at our store.
Follow and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us!
This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our logo is by Dani Finkel of Crucial D Designs.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | E-Bikes. They're everywhere you go these days, and it makes sense. On an e-bike you can go where you want, when you want. |
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| 0:47.2 | slash war on cars. |
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| 0:51.1 | slash war on cars. With rad power bikes you can see. Rad Power Bikes. |
| 0:53.0 | With Rad Power Bikes, you can save money, have fun, and help to win the War on Cars. Driving a car is car is the main task. To be safe it requires a hundred percent of a |
| 1:11.0 | person's attention all the time. Most people including myself are not paying |
| 1:15.6 | attention 100% of the time. The more technology that goes into the car, the |
| 1:20.9 | more distraction there is, so things just are getting worse and worse. |
| 1:27.0 | This is the war on cars. I'm Doug Gordon. |
| 1:35.0 | So in 2021, an estimated 42,915 people died in traffic crashes. That's according to an estimate from the National Highway |
| 1:46.1 | Traffic Safety Administration and that is the highest total in 16 years. We've talked a lot on the |
| 1:52.4 | podcast about the reasons behind this public |
| 1:54.8 | health crisis and among the chief offenders obviously is road design with |
| 1:59.4 | US roads prioritizing speed and traffic flow over safety, especially the safety of people outside of vehicles. |
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