Driver Chatter ?= Driver Distraction

If you're any sort of motorsports enthusiast, you've probably got a gut reaction to the title (i.e., 'No'). After all, drivers are clearly skilled at managing their discussions with crew chiefs, spotters, owners, etc. Indeed, it's difficult to imagine many circuits without this sort of communication. There's a certain safety component to having information from the spotter available to the driver; there's competitive considerations for having a driver's input available to the crew chief, and so on.

...but, as I am a HUMAN performance researcher, looking at more general trends, I still have to wonder. Just because the risk/benefit analysis leans toward benefit doesn't mean there's NO risk. Additionally, what makes a professional motorsports driver better at managing these conversations than me in my car?

As far as I know, this isn't something anyone's really considered, in part due to the "you can't do without it, so why bother?" approach (after all, the #1 response to addressing driver distraction is to say "don't do it." I have issues with this, too, but I digress). However, there are some lines of thought to consider....

1) Race car drivers are extremely skilled drivers so any impact of distraction is insignificant

2) Race car drivers are better multitaskers, due to high levels of practice and specific expertise

3) Because radio chatter is typically much more context-dependent and -constrained, it is less distracting than typical cellular phone or passenger conversation

4) Race car driver performance IS impacted by interactions with crew members, but drivers have developed strategies to mitigate the distraction impact.

My personal view falls most closely to #4. There is no reason on a HUMAN performance level to assume that drivers, however skilled, can entirely avoid the impact of distraction from a secondary task. Nevertheless, there are clear differences in the 'chatter' of a race team versus my chattering to a friend on my phone.

Anyone who has listened to radio chatter may have noticed certain traits of it.... one is that you hear the spotter a lot more than you hear the driver; listening is considered far less distracting than interacting or conversing. Drivers typically talk more about car setup when it needs to be addressed, but only when they have the opportunity. A driver having difficulty in a turn will probably wait until the straightaway to tell his crew chief it's 'pushing like a dump truck' or whatever. Everyday drivers may be less sensitive to driving conditions (but conversely, their driving conditions are typically less extreme).

These differences are interesting to me for a variety of reasons, but in part, because 1) there may yet be a competitive advantage to certain styles of interactions between crew members, and 2) race car drivers aren't the only drivers required to multitask in extreme situations. What race car drivers have that law enforcement, military, and others don't have, is a LOT of information about their environment and other constraints.

So, when it comes to the consideration in the title.... can motorsports chatter provide insight into DRIVER multitasking, and help move us beyond a legislative "don't do this" mentality. For example, can Ryan Newman's radio chatter aid his sponsor's (US Army) understanding of what's going on in the minds of soldiers in convoy situations? Or Tony Gibson's remarks guide dispatch communications to law enforcement? I don't know, but I think it's pretty clear by now that I'd like to have a chance to find out.