Crazy Driving Experiment of the 1960s: Studying the “Attentional Demand” of Driving

By Alex in Auto & Transportation, Science & Tech on Mar 30, 2008 at 7:10 pm

In the mid 1960s, Prof John W. Senders (that’s him under the helmet) and a team of psychologists wanted to study the "attentional demand" of automobile driving.

So, they devised a special helmet with a movable visor that obstructed the driver’s vision – in essence making him drive blindfolded and …. then send him down Route 128 outside of Boston!

Check out the crazy video: Link [embedded YouTube] – Thanks Andrew Wirtanen!

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Christophe
Mar 31st, 2008 at 12:04 am
He’s still looking for volonteers to test the Mount Washington mountain road
John W Senders
May 29th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
It was not so crazy as you might think. The method is now a standard way of assessing the distracting effects of devices used or installed in cars. As one of the YouTube commenters correctly put it: I was measuring the effect of cell phone usage before they were invented. If you would like a PDF of the report ask for it.

J.W. Senders

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