Are You Compelled to Respond to Your Phone’s Notifications While Driving?

We know it’s wrong, not to mention illegal, and we are informed daily of the deadly crashes that occur, yet we can’t seem to keep our eyes off of our phones and other electronic devices that seemingly distract us while we drive. So why do we keep doing it? Well, car accident lawyers located in Traverse City, Michigan may have come across an answer that contains more detail than the simple “I just can’t help it.”

Social media updates and other notifications cause a release of dopamine which causes us to continue engaging in such behavior.

According to David Greenfield, who is “an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine,” our brains are being affected by our phones subconsciously, meaning we aren’t aware how compelled we have become to answer the small ping notification sound we have assigned when we receive a text, social media update, or email. However, when we hear this sound, “our brains get a hit of dopamine, a chemical that leads to an increase in arousal, energizing the reward circuity in our brains.”

Another interesting fact that Traverse City car accident attorneys point out is that when this brain reward center becomes activated, meaning we become excited to learn who has texted us, whether or not we have been tagged in a photo, or if someone left a little heart icon on one of your own personal pictures, something else in our body becomes less active.

While your brains receive this dose of dopamine, Local 10 News notes that “another part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, where most of our judgement and reasoning occurs,” shuts down. Therefore, as we answer these texts messages or read up on the latest news our friends and family have posted on their Facebook timelines, we are hindering ourselves from the ability to make informed and smart decisions as we operate our vehicle.

While we know it is dangerous to use our phones while driving, many cannot help but thrive off the excitement.

According to Greenfield, while we are aware of the dangers the roadways possess when we are actively using our phone, even though we know that we could possibly crash or collide right into the back of the vehicle in front of us, when our brains are hit with this dosage of dopamine, we aren’t necessarily using our best judgment.  Car crash attorneys in Michigan point out that one reason why we continue to engage in this careless behavior is that when “nothing bad happens, we think we will be safe if we do it again.”

Sadly, many innocent lives are taken each and every day due to drivers who are spending more time looking down at their phones and less on the roadway ahead of them.

And in the event you or someone you love has recently been involved in a car accident, whether it was caused by a distracted driver, a drunk driver, or someone who simply didn’t adhere to the rules of the roadway, contact an experienced auto accident law firm in Traverse City. Located in Michigan, Christopher Trainor & Associates has helped several clients obtain justice and compensation and can do the same for you.