What's the law got to do with it? Legislation regarding in-vehicle technology use and its impact on driver distraction

Legislation in the road transport domain aims to control safety on the roads. Despite this, a critical issue affecting road safety is that of driver distraction. Although poorly defined, distraction is a significant road safety issue which, in part, is caused by the prevalence of technology within vehicles. Legislation surrounding the use of in-vehicle technologies are explored in this paper from a socio-technical system perspective. This reveals the wider context of the road transport system operating under the current laws using an Accimap analysis. A distinction in the law between the Use of hand-held mobile phones, a device that is typically banned for use by drivers worldwide, and the use of other technological devices that are covered by more general laws against 'careless' and/or 'dangermis' driving was found. Historically, individual drivers' have been blamed for distraction, whereas the systems approach shows how current legislation may have created the conditions necessary for driver distraction. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.