“Daydreaming”, or in SafeStart terms, “Mind not on Task” is cited as more dangerous than texting while driving in a new study from Erie Insurance which is being given a fair bit of attention in various news and media outlets around the globe, including NBC, Prevention, The Globe and Mail and Yahoo News (click each link to see their report on the subject).

This comes as no surprise considering the current emphasis being placed on texting and distracted driving from leading safety organizations like the NSC’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month for example. It also comes as no surprise to people trained in SafeStart, who have an advanced awareness of the state-to-error pattern that is occurring in these situations (and everywhere)—states, like rushing and complacency, leading to eyes and mind not on task (see Figure 1).

Most people recognize the increased risk in being distracted while driving, which is supported by numerous reports and statistical data correlating distraction with motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths, but do little to lower the risk. Fortunately, SafeStart provides users with Critical Error Reduction Techniques to help deal with distractions and the critical errors of eyes and mind not on task (see Figure 2).

We are relieved and supportive of the awareness being generated about human factors relating to driver safety and hope that more companies will teach their employees the SafeStart CERTs to help prevent these types of injuries and fatalities.

Contact us to learn more about SafeStart.