Every year, motor vehicle crashes caused by distracted driving kill thousands of people, injure hundreds of thousands, and cost billions of dollars; and yet many drivers continue to text and drive, even though they know it’s dangerous.
Now, a new study from researchers at Penn State Hazleton and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) finds that video-based “threat appeals” reduce the impulsive decision-making associated with texting and driving and may be a promising strategy for reducing texting and driving in the future. The overall purpose of the study was to help find effective ways to combat the public health challenge of texting while driving.
Yusuke Hayashi, associate professor of psychology at Penn State Hazleton and lead author of the research paper, said that a “threat appeal” is a message that tries to raise the threat of danger and harm and discourage risky behavior.
It doesn’t have to graphically or explicitly depict a crash or its consequences, said Hayashi. “It doesn’t have to be scary. It doesn’t have to show a crash.”
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