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Distracted driving may be a hot topic in the media, but the ins and outs of how messaging affects distraction-related accidents are not fully understood.

Doctoral student Anthony Almond hopes to explore this issue more in his dissertation, according to a presentation he gave at the Institute for Communication Research weekly meeting Dec. 2.

“Distraction contributes to a lot of crashes and fatalities and injuries every year,” Almond said.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration back this up: More than 3,000 people were killed as a result of distraction-related crashes in 2014.

Almond reviewed past studies focused on distracted driving ranging from 1969 to 2014. One early test involved drivers who had to complete tasks via car phones while driving. Another involved drivers with car phones and navigators in their vehicles while driving.

Almond included a GIF of a driver swerving off and back onto the road while distracted. ICR members laughed, then Almond reminded them of the seriousness of this kind of driving.

“Don’t text and drive!” he said.

This background research led Almond to his explanation of his dissertation, studying how persuasive messages influence the long-term stability of driving behaviors.

“You can be in one of two states while driving,” he said, “either engaging in safe driving behaviors or not.”

This far-apart range of driving behaviors serves as a platform for Almond’s test: Using mediated messages to stabilize good behaviors in drivers and to destabilize bad ones. In his research, he plans to perform a longitudinal study tracking driving behaviors of 18 to 24 participants for six weeks.

As the ICR meetings are formatted to allow for group discussion, ICR director Rob Potter pointed out his own experience with distracted driving and how the issue can vary day-to-day, something Almond would need to control in some way. Some days he’s been discussing an issue on his mind, he’s been thinking about a grant application, or he’s worrying about picking up his kids.

“Those aren’t issues that you’re talking about as independent variables,” Potter said. “You’re talking about media messages. But how do you control for those types of things?”

Because this variation is so prevalent—and because it can work in the other direction, as well, when drivers might be unusually focused on their driving and refusing to look at their phones—it is difficult to moderate.

“I don’t think I can control them,” Almond said. “I just have to measure them.”

Almond plans to measure by use of a Bluetooth device installed in his subjects’ cars. The device will measure speeding, hard breaking, fast accelerations and phone usage, amongst other things.

The first two weeks of the study will be a baseline of the drivers’ behaviors, while the next two will involve sending one group of subjects a message once a week and the other group three times a week. In the final two weeks, Almond will send one group a message three times a week and the other group daily.

“Hopefully, there’s a reduction in bad driving behaviors.”

The group discussed exactly what kind of messaging Almond would give to his subjects, ranging from negative to positive to a mix. Members questioned whether “positive” messages about texting and driving really exist.

“Oh, yeah,” Almond said. “Things like, ‘Don’t text and drive and you’ll arrive alive.”

Almond is studying mass communication and cognitive science.

The weekly ICR meetings support ongoing experiments and research that make use of the facility’s testing labs and other tools.