Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Aug 3;12(8):e0181327.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181327. eCollection 2017.

The distracted mind on the wheel: Overall propensity to mind wandering is associated with road crash responsibility

Cédric Gil-Jardiné  1   2 , Mélanie Née  2 , Emmanuel Lagarde  2 , Jonathan Schooler  3 , Benjamin Contrand  2 , Ludivine Orriols  2 , Cédric Galera  2   4
Affiliations

The distracted mind on the wheel: Overall propensity to mind wandering is associated with road crash responsibility

Cédric Gil-Jardiné et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The role of distractions on attentional lapses that place road users in higher risk of crash remains poorly understood. We aimed to assess the respective impact of (i) mind wandering trait (propensity to mind wander in the everyday life as measured with a set of 4 questions on the proportion of time spent mind wandering in 4 different situations) and (ii) mind wandering state (disturbing thoughts just before the crash) on road crash risk using a comparison between responsible and non-responsible drivers. 954 drivers injured in a road crash were interviewed at the adult emergency department of the Bordeaux university hospital in France (2013-2015). Responsibility for the crash, mind wandering (trait/state), external distraction, alcohol use, psychotropic drug use, and sleep deprivation were evaluated. Based on questionnaire reports, 39% of respondents were classified with a mind wandering trait and 13% reported a disturbing thought just before the crash. While strongly correlated, mind wandering state and trait were independently associated with responsibility for a traffic crash (State: OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.64-3.83 and Trait: OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.22-2.16 respectively). Self-report of distracting thoughts therefore did not capture the entire risk associated with the propensity of the mind to wander, either because of under-reported thoughts and/or other deleterious mechanisms to be further explored.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: All authors declare no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

References

    1. WHO | Global status report on road safety 2013. In: WHO [Internet]. [cited 31 May 2015]. http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2013/en/
    1. DOT HS 811 856 November 2013. 2012 Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview. Fatality Rate per 100M VMT [Internet]. [cited 15 Apr 2016]. http://docplayer.net/4276471-Dot-hs-811-856-november-2013-2012-motor-veh...
    1. Dingus TA, Klauer SG, Neale VL, Petersen AD, Lee SE, Sudweeks J. The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study. DOT HS 810 593 Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.: 2006.
    1. Terry CP, Terry DL. Cell Phone-Related Near Accidents Among Young Drivers: Associations With Mindfulness. J Psychol. 2014; 1–19. doi: 10.1080/00223980.2014.964166 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Galéra C, Orriols L, M’Bailara K, Laborey M, Contrand B, Ribéreau-Gayon R, et al. Mind wandering and driving: responsibility case-control study. BMJ. 2012;345: e8105 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8105 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources