title: Mind wandering and driving: responsibility case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the association between mind wandering (thinking unrelated to the task at hand) and the risk of being responsible for a motor vehicle crash.
  
  
  METHODS
  Responsibility case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult emergency department of a university hospital in France, April 2010 to August 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  955 drivers injured in a motor vehicle crash.
  
  
  METHODS
  Responsibility for the crash, mind wandering, external distraction, negative affect, alcohol use, psychotropic drug use, and sleep deprivation. Potential confounders were sociodemographic and crash characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intense mind wandering (highly disrupting/distracting content) was associated with responsibility for a traffic crash (17% (78 of 453 crashes in which the driver was thought to be responsible) v 9% (43 of 502 crashes in which the driver was not thought to be responsible); adjusted odds ratio 2.12, 95% confidence interval 1.37 to 3.28).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mind wandering while driving, by decoupling attention from visual and auditory perceptions, can jeopardise the ability of the driver to incorporate information from the environment, thereby threatening safety on the roads.
authors.affiliation: ISPED, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, University of Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galéra
authors.forename: Ludivine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orriols
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: M'Bailara
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laborey
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Contrand
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ribéreau-Gayon
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Masson
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bakiri
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gabaude
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fort
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maury
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lemercier
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cours
authors.forename: Manuel-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Bouvard
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lagarde
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015984:Causality; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects; D012307:Risk Factors; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000150:complications; D012941:Social Responsibility; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs