Social media browsing while driving: Effects on driver performance and attention allocation

Abstract

Texting while driving is known to lead to performance decrements; however, it is still unclear to what extent browsing social media while driving also negatively affects driver performance and attention. There is a need to determine what guidelines and warnings should be in place. The aim of this research study is to analyze the effects of browsing social media on young driver performance and attention allocation (using eye tracking). To this end, a driving simulator experiment was carried out. Participants were asked to drive and either browse a Facebook page or send text messages on a given cell phone. Results showed that both texting and browsing social media lead to performance decrements, but texting while driving is more detrimental to performance. However, in terms of attention allocation, texting and browsing social media seem to be very similar, confirming the need for more awareness about the visual distraction caused by browsing social media. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd