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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Researchers have fallen short of explaining why drivers are so easily distracted until now. In two peer-reviewed academic journals, assistant professor Robert Rosenberger of the School of Public Policy explains that because people talk on the phone on a regular basis, they have developed learned habits that take over their awareness, sometimes entirely.
“By habit, a driver’s overall awareness is overtaken by the content of the phone conversation and not the demands of driving,” said Rosenberger, a researcher in Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy. “It doesn’t even matter if the person’s intent to focus on driving is stronger than the willingness to talk on the phone. Sooner or later, the phone-associated habits will subtly tug the awareness away from the road.”
