Your Concentration and liistening to Audio Books (music) ?

Remember you asked for opinions....IMHO , listening to books is a much bigger distraction than listening to the radio. But , if you're gonna do it , then I would refrain from doing it during any kind of bad weather conditions (any kind now) , not just snowy or icy conditions , also when you're in really heavy rush-hour type traffic conditions. Or , in an area that's not too familiar to you.....in other words , I guess , you need to use some common sense when you make the decision to try doing it..."if" you do. I'm basing my opinion on over 30 + years and 3 million+ miles of accident free driving too , If that carries any weight.

 

I know some people can listen to audiobooks just fine while driving, but me, I can't. My mind tends to get a little too much into developing visuals for the book as it goes along and I just don't feel safe with it. Music is no problem though, I have music on 95% of the time when I am driving.

 

Anything that takes your attention away from driving of any vehicle increases the chances of being involved in a collision. Listening to music can be stimulating and would not take away as much of your attention, where listening to an audio book would require more of your attention in order to fully absorb the content. Each person is obviously different in the way they be distracted, some easier, some harder. When driving in areas that require a heightened level of awareness (metro area, inclement weather, construction zone, railroad crossing, etc), it is better to take a "quiet ####pit" approach and eliminate all sounds and distractions around you. No one size fits all answer as it depends on each individual. The less distractions while driving, the better.

 

I used to listen to audiobooks and podcasts all the time while I was driving. Never felt like it was a distraction, and even felt like it kept my brain engaged a little more when I was tired to help keep me awake.


In my situation, my brain sort of gave priority to the driving over what I was listening to (think my hearing loss helps with that). If I got in a situation where my brain couldn't handle both, it would zone out on the audio and miss what was being said, but my focus stayed on the driving.

Not saying this is the same for everybody, and I think it has a lot to do with just how your brain is wired. While not a distraction for me, I could see it easily being a distraction for someone else. Just depends on who you are.

 

Audiobooks make time fly. When I was new I would turn down the volume in traffic. Now I can sing along with music while licking an ice cream cone and looking down the shirt of a hottie in the car beside me. You can do it.

 

My wife and I listen to audiobooks all the time. It actually helps me to stay awake if I am a little drowsy. There is no need to look away from the road and my wife and I enjoy them a lot. Pilot usually has them for 9.99$ or you can download them from the Audible app.

 

I love my audio books and couldn't handle the long stretches without them. That being said, they get turned off and the music on whenever I get in to traffic, weather, near my exits, or roaming around the truckstop looking for a parking spot. The poster that said his brain will sorta autofocus on the important thing (driving) is the same for me. The quiet ####pit approach...doesn't work for me. My over active imagination works against me and every sound is the driveshaft falling out or the engine fixing to blow up.

 

I was going to post exactly this. If the road demands more attention, I gradually block out more and more of the audiobook.

My speech is the same way. I'll be talking to a codriver/passenger and come up on a situation where I have to focus on the road and I either stop talking altogether or I start talking gibberish.

 

Yes. I find the driving sometimes forces me to back up the audio book. I have never had a book distract my driving. It fact they do the opposite. A good book will get your senses going.

I have been a Audible member for ever. There are some great books out there. The Ender's Game and Speaker of the Dead books are great listens. I am a Hornblower fan and listen to those classics. All the W E B Griffin books (they are all the same so it is like candy). No I can think of no reason not to listen to audio books while driving. Or waiting to be unloaded or loaded. Or waiting on .........