One of the major reasons for the historically high accident and death rate on the road over holiday long weekends is the seeming inability of South African drivers - in particular the younger, wired generation - to stay focused on driving.
Young South African drivers, especially, are far more likely than their European counterparts to be distracted by phone calls and internet use while behind the wheel, according to the results of Goodyear's third annual Road Safety Survey.
The survey addressed the road behaviour of 6400 drivers under the age of 25 in 15 European countries as well as in South Africa, and was designed to get inside the brain of the young driver and provide insights into the online generation on the road.
Never mind that it's illegal ion most countries; the survey showed how young drivers phone, text and surf the web while at the wheel.
South Africans came out among the top users of cellphones without headsets (61 percent, compared to 44 percent across Europe), along with Swedes and Russians.
ENFORCEMENT WORKS
Young drivers in the UK (15 percent, Spain (26 percent) and the Netherlands (27 percent) were the least likely to use their phones without headsets, proving that stricter enforcement of the law can be effective.
South Africans were similarly far more likely to use their smartphones to send text messages, go online, visit social networks, send or read emails or use messaging services (65 percent compared to 41 percent global average) - all actions even more dangerous than phoning on the road.
Goodyear SA communication manager Lize Hayward explained: "Today's young drivers have too many distractions at their fingertips.
"We used our third annual road-safety survey to see just how these gadgets are affecting driver safety.
"Our study was designed to explore a wide range of factors from driver training through to general concerns amongst young drivers."
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
While new technology undoubtedly provides a particular danger, the survey showed that more traditional multi-tasking activities also continue to distract young drivers, with South Africans amongst the most easily misled.
Some of the most common behaviours included drinking (75 percent compared to the global average of 58 percent), eating (71 percent compared to the global average of 45 percent), looking at a map, changing GPS settings, shaving, putting on make-up, styling hair and even kissing (33 percent!).
Contrary to popular belief, driving researchers say, the brain is not capable of multi-tasking, but only of tasking sequentially, switching quickly from one task to another.
The frontal lobe area of the brain, associated with attention and concentration, can all too easily become overwhelmed as drivers try to carry out numerous actions at once, seriously compromising their safety and that of other road users. The distraction caused by carrying out other tasks while driving is known by experts as 'inattention blindness', which causes us to look at objects but simply not see them when we are talking on the phone.
FALSE CONFIDENCE
Scientists who have studied people attempting to multi-task at the wheel observe that they acquire a false confidence and believe that they can complete a series of tasks while also driving. The problems occur when something unexpectedly goes wrong and they need to react in a split-second by quickly reducing speed or changing lanes. Only then does it become apparent that their judgement is impaired.
Hayward insists: "Today's world offers far too many distractions for young drivers and this significantly inhibits their ability to concentrate at the wheel. Driving requires 100 percent of our concentration and attention - youngsters need to put phones and other distractions to one side when they get behind the wheel of a car."