Listening to Traffic Reports on the Radio Could Be Bad For Your Driving

Keep your brain on the road!

A study conducted by psychologists, PhD student Gillian Murphy of University College Cork and Dr Ciara Greene of University College Dublin, found that motorists who focus most on traffic reports on radio while driving are more likely to miss potential hazards in front of them - including an elephant or gorilla.

To test whether paying attention to traffic reports prevents drivers from concentrating on other more important tasks, the researchers asked 36 people to drive a route in a full-sized driving simulator while listening to a traffic update on the radio.

Half the group was asked to do a "simple task" of listening for a change in the speaker's gender while the rest were asked to perform "complex task" such listening for a report about a particular road, Daily Mail reports.

After the experiment, the team found out that almost three quarters or seven out of 10 missed hazards when distracted by the radio.

"...only 23 per cent of the drivers undertaking the complex task noticed a large, unexpected visual stimulus - an elephant or gorilla by the side of the road. By contrast, 71 per cent of the drivers undertaking the simpler task noticed it," the study, published in The British Psychological Society read.

In addition, they also found out that those listening to traffic reports were worse at following road signs, recalling which vehicle had just passed them and even at driving itself.

"Their speed, lane position and reaction times to hazards were all affected," the report added.

According to Murphy, the study can be attributed to the Perceptual Load Theory also known as the attention theory which states that we have a finite amount of attention and that once that capacity is maxed out, we cannot process anything else.

Murphy said, "Road safety campaigns are so focused on telling us to keep our eyes on the road, and this is certainly important, but this research tells us that it's simply not enough. We should focus on keeping our brains on the road."

"Anything that draws our attention away from driving can be problematic, even if it's auditory like listening to the radio or having a hands-free phone conversation. That doesn't mean that we should ban radios in cars, but that we should all be aware of the limits of our attention," she added.

As a take away, Medialifemagazine.com said while it's not quite time to yank the radio out of your car for safety's sake, itcertainly is a matter worthy of more research and attention.

Most of the time, people shift their attention to radio broadcast to avoid drowsiness when driving. But according to Sleep Foundation, there are other ways you can prevent drowsiness while driving without risking your life.

Below are some of the tips:

1. Take a pre-drive nap
2. Pull over and have a mid-drive nap
3. Drive with a partner, especially on long trips
4. partner on long trips. 
5. Don't rush
6. Do not drink alcohol
7. Don't drive between midnight and 6 a.m. as this is a time when sleepiness is most intense
8. Drink caffeine