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A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention

Matt Richtel

3.84 · Rating details · 2,630 ratings · 600 reviews

One of 2014's most original and masterfully reported books, A Deadly Wandering by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Matt Richtel interweaves the cutting-edge science of attention with the tensely plotted story of a mysterious car accident and its aftermath to answer some of the defining questions of our time: What is technology doing to us? Can our minds keep up with the pace of ch ...more

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Hardcover, 390 pages

Published September 23rd 2014 by William Morrow

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Jul 02, 2014 Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, public-health, brain-candy, science, psychology, psychology-and-the-brain, books-of-the-year-2014

Hi, welcome. I’m happy to see you are settling in to read this now. But…what?...really?…please…ignore that chirp that just told you a new e-mail arrived. It is probably just another add for Viagra or penile enlargement. It is almost never something critical, so…hey…come back. Son of a bitch. (Taps fingers on desk, plays some solitaire, checks watch) Ah, you’re back. Took long enough. Geez. All right, can we get back to it now? You remember? The book is A Deadly Wandering, a pretty amazing look at attentio ...more

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Sep 09, 2014 Carol rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, true-crime

The Hook - In June of 2006 Nineteen year old Reggie Shaw grabs his cell phone, climbs into his SUV and heads off to work. It’s just an ordinary day. Approximately 35 minutes into his ride, two men are dead and three families lives are changed forever.

I’m a minority, one of the unconnected so to speak. I own an old tracfone, rarely on and even though it’s capable of sending a text message I never have. The premise in my quick summation above grabbed me immediately. I’m in the camp that texting while The Hook - In June of 2006 Nineteen year old Reggie Shaw grabs his cell phone, climbs into his SUV and heads off to work. It’s just an ordinary day. Approximately 35 minutes into his ride, two men are dead and three families lives are changed forever.

I’m a minority, one of the unconnected so to speak. I own an old tracfone, rarely on and even though it’s capable of sending a text message I never have. The premise in my quick summation above grabbed me immediately. I’m in the camp that texting while driving is distracted driving. To go a few steps further, I also believe cell phone use is problematic. But what about listening to audio books, the radio or even my passenger’s chatter; are these considered distractions to our attention to the road? Should these all be banned and be punishible crimes? Matt Richtel blends Reggie Shaw’s story with scientific studies that texting and daily use of our devices is not only addictive behavior but a deadly a deadly mix behind the wheel.

The Line – “At one end of the hall at which he found himself, heedless justice in threadbare robes were biting their fingernails or closing their eyelids, at the other end was a ragged rabble. There were lawyers in all sorts of attitudes, the passage begins, and goes on to describe this mess of humanity, all absorbed and self-absorbed participants, even the inattentive judges” and then concludes “for men felt herein the presence of that great human thing which is called law and that great divine thing that is called justice.” a quote from Les Misérables that Judge Willmore kept in the upper right drawer of his desk and came under the heading “A Place for Arriving at Convictions”. It seems appropriate as Reggie Shaw comes to trial for his part in the deaths of the two men.

The Sinker – Should be required reading for teens applying for their driving permits.

A Deadly Wandering is aptly titled as this is just what happens when Reggie Shaw takes to the road that fateful day. He weaves in and out and over the line until the accident happens. I would not do this review justice without giving name to the two rocket scientists killed that day. Keith O’Dell and Jim Furfaro, brilliant men, husbands and fathers. Many others play a part in the investigation and the tragedy of what happened that day when Mr. Shaw’s, Mr. O’Dell, and Mr. Furfaro lives collided.

Matt Richtel has written a compelling, thought provoking piece of investigative journalism. I challenge you to read the book and continue to text.
...more

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Nov 04, 2015 B Schrodinger rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

'A Deadly Wandering' is more than a tale about a tragic event where two people were killed by a distracted driver, it attempts to take on the subjects of attention, justice, abuse, community, .... you name it.

The irony is that a book about distraction was distracting in itself. Small chapters, multiple story threads, constantly jumping between them, random passages on people who play very small or no role in the major storyline. Even presenting the same information several times thro ...more

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Mar 20, 2016 Erika rated it liked it

Shelves: books-read-in-2016

2.5 stars. Overall this was a pretty good read, but even though the book was just published in 2014, it already feels dated.
Richtel writes beautifully about a horrible texting-while-driving accident and its aftermath. The chapters on the tragedy are interspersed with discussions of technology’s effect on our brains.
But today, texting while driving is illegal in 46 states and I don’t think anyone could make an argument that it’s ok. Because of that, there’s quite a bit of preaching to the choir ...more

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Apr 23, 2018 Caroline rated it liked it

Shelves: true-crime, the-inside-story, nonfiction, he-wrote-it, investigative

***NO SPOILERS***

In 2006, texting-and-driving was not yet illegal in the United States. A car crash in September 2006 in Utah was a catalyst in changing that. A Deadly Wandering is about this and a lot more--too much more.

The book grew from an article journalist Matt Richtel wrote for The New York Times titled “The Lure of Data: Is it Addictive?” He decided to explore the issue further by writing A Deadly Wandering, which centers on the case of a young man named Reggie Shaw, who killed two rocket scientist ...more

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Sep 03, 2014 Jill rated it it was amazing

Many of us are absolutely obsessed with staying connected – texting friends regularly throughout the day. Every single day, six billion texts are sent in the United States.

Reggie Shaw, a young clean-cut Mormon teenager, was one of those texters. He did not know that he was quite literally on a collision course with destiny. As he inadvertently wove in and out of the lane, his car smashed into another car containing two family men, rocket scientists on their way to work. They were instantly kill Many of us are absolutely obsessed with staying connected – texting friends regularly throughout the day. Every single day, six billion texts are sent in the United States.

Reggie Shaw, a young clean-cut Mormon teenager, was one of those texters. He did not know that he was quite literally on a collision course with destiny. As he inadvertently wove in and out of the lane, his car smashed into another car containing two family men, rocket scientists on their way to work. They were instantly killed.

This gripping book – one of the most important books I’ve read – highlights the journey of Reggie Shaw from collision to reckoning to redemption. By placing a face on the tragedy, Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Richtel drums home the human costs of texting while controlling a two thousand pound piece of machinery.

Yet A Deadly Wandering is far more than one man’s tale. It is a tale of our digital age gone awry. Our brain evolves at a glacial pace, with part of it operating unconsciously, automatically, driven by sensory stimulus and contextual cues” – a phone ringing or the sound of our name. Yet technology has exploded, overwhelming us with more information than we can handle. Much as we want to, we simply cannot focus 100% on two or more things at once. As a result, driving and texting is like driving impaired…not unlike drunk driving. We simly don’t have the brain capacity.

Matt Richtel writes very accessibly about science: “When the phone rings, it triggers a whole social reward network. And it triggers an orienting response that has been wired into us since hunger-gatherer times. You had to pay attention for survival. If you didn’t attend you got eaten by lions. We’re hardwired that way, no matter what we want to do.”

Each person in this sad and cautionary narrative is treated with empathy. Reggie Shaw is a good kid whose life is turned upside down by the tragedy. The victims, Jim Furaro and Keith O’Dell, were good men who died needlessly, leaving behind loving wives and daughters…and propulsive careers. Terryl Warner, the victim’s advocate, is a true survivor, relentless in her pursuit of justice. And Judge Thomas Willmore, who balances justice with fairness and orders his defendants to read Les Miserables, is surely one of the finest of his profession.

On a personal note: as someone whose business depends on fast response, my cell phone is right next to me when I drive. This is a behavior-changing book that persuasively shows the human cost of distracted driving. Reggie Shaw’s texting cost two lives; his mission to publicize that tragedy may save thousands. As Arthur Miller wrote in Death of a Salesman, “Attention must be paid.”

...more

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Nov 19, 2014 James rated it it was amazing

Everyone, yes, everyone, should read this book. I have never ever said that before about any book, but there it is. I can't remember reading anything that has so changed the way I look at, well, most everything. In reading many of the 5 star reviews here, I see that I can add nothing about the story. What spoke most to me was the "attention science", the neuroscience of attention and distraction, along with its human counterparts. That has changed the way I drive (being more attentive to the roa ...more

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Dec 18, 2014 Lynda rated it liked it

Good God, did the writer get paid PER WORD? Saying this book is well-researched is an understatement! The reader is saturated with background about every single person he introduces and who may only momentary matter. Initially, I loved this book, so much so, I gave it 3 stars, and would ration how much I'd read because I didn't want to finish it. Now, for about a week, I dread picking it up, and have therefore deducted 1 star. It's become like a friend who has overstayed their visit! But I want ...more

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Jul 21, 2014 Julia Rose rated it it was amazing

We all know texting while driving is dangerous. So why do we keep doing it? Could it be that we CAN'T stop the compulsion to stay connected; that we are so over-stimulated by our social networks and pressured to multitask that we are addicted, and in collective denial? A Deadly Wandering is a riveting account of the fatal tragedy and subsequent seminal legal (and moral) battle that led to texting-while-driving bans being signed into law. It links neuroscience research, legal undertakings, and na ...more

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Dec 19, 2014 Galen Johnson rated it it was ok

Shelves: timberlandlibr, non-fiction

While I admire the work that went into this book, the writing was just too overdone and poorly edited for the book to be enjoyable to me. Everything had to be spelled out again and again-- after chapters of describing Reggie's town and family and religious community, the author summarizes just in case we didn't get the point: "After all, it's not uncommon for young people to lie to parents or a pastor….And they tell those lies even when there isn't the intense cultural pressure that Reggie felt ...more

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Jul 01, 2018 Peter Mcloughlin rated it really liked it

Shelves: 00001bad-things, complexity, computers, technology, 1990-to-2019, american-history, biology, medicine, law, owned-books

The story behind a car accident the first of its kind in 2006 that involved the issue of texting while driving. It is the case involving a fatality that changed the laws nationwide and raised awareness of the dangers of texting while driving. It is a very sad story of a young man an ordinary person who while texting caused the death of a passenger in another car. It goes deep into the story to talk about the tragedy for all involved both the driver responsible and the family of the deceased. Sh ...more

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Jul 21, 2014 Amy Rogers rated it really liked it

ScienceThrillers.com review: Matt Richtel is a science journalist who covers Silicon Valley for the New York Times. In 2009, he wrote a front page story about distracted driving. The story went viral in part because the subject touches so many of us. Richtel was one of the first to put a mirror in front of us, making us unwillingly recognize the ways in which we have allowed our technology to control us and to put us at risk both physically (while driving) and emotionally (in our relationships). His on ScienceThrillers.com review: Matt Richtel is a science journalist who covers Silicon Valley for the New York Times. In 2009, he wrote a front page story about distracted driving. The story went viral in part because the subject touches so many of us. Richtel was one of the first to put a mirror in front of us, making us unwillingly recognize the ways in which we have allowed our technology to control us and to put us at risk both physically (while driving) and emotionally (in our relationships). His one story became a series, and a Pulitzer Prize followed.

Richtel is fascinated by our uneasy coexistence with digital connectedness and invasive communication. He has spun this interest and expertise beyond world-class journalism into fiction with several brilliant science thriller novels (The Cloud, Devil's Plaything). Now with the release of A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention, Richtel brings his thoughtful, articulate writing to book-length narrative nonfiction.

A Deadly Wandering might change your life.

Most of the words in this book tell the stories of people affected by a horrible car wreck in Utah in 2006. The primary focus is on Reggie Shaw, a 19-year-old Everyman who was texting while driving and crossed the center line, killing two people. In the style of a well-written true crime tale, A Deadly Wandering explores the characters: Reggie, his family, the victims and their families, neighbors in the small community, law enforcement, legislators, judges, and jailers. These stories of tragedy and its aftermath make for a page-turning read.

But Richtel does more than tell the story of the 2006 crash. Using that incident as the example that illustrates the rule, Richtel weaves alternating chapters about the larger story of distracted driving and the even bigger story of our relationship with modern communications technology. With the help of neuroscientists who study the brain and its ability (or inability) to pay attention (some of the most interesting characters in this book), Richtel asks, why is it so hard to lock away the phone when we’re driving? Is social technology addictive? An extreme compulsion? Or simply habit forming?

The author says:

All the tweets and Facebook updates, the emails, the YouTube videos, and texts are not creating themselves. They are enabled by technology, sure. But they are driven by the humans pressing the buttons, asking for a tiny piece of the fractured spotlight.

He cites research that “the motivation to disclose our internal thoughts and knowledge to others” is inherent to our species. We have a deep, primitive desire to communicate. For millennia, our technical ability to give and receive communication was proportional to our brain’s ability to process it. This is no longer the case. Each click, each ping, “gives a little rush, a tiny dopamine squirt,” a narcotic-like pleasure to our brains, but our attention is overwhelmed.

A Deadly Wandering also explores questions of justice and forgiveness, and the emergence of legislation to restrict phone use while driving. Richtel highlights the problem that hands-free cell phone use is no less distracting than holding a phone to your ear, and that automakers are introducing ever more distracting technologies into the cockpits of our cars, and that from a neurological perspective, multitasking is a myth.

After reading this book, I’ve examined my own use of social technology and am approaching not only cell phone use in the car but all my digital interactions with a new trepidation. The message, I think, is one we all pay lip service to but are challenged to act upon: Be fully with the people in your presence. Simplify. And pay attention. ...more

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May 25, 2014 Tracy rated it it was ok

A cautionary tale of a young man who caused a car accident that killed two men because he was texting and driving. The author not only follows the young man and the subsequent legal implications but current researching on the brain and what we know about our attention span. We're still learning what draws our attention, and we don't always have the control that we think we do. Richtel demonstrates that it's not just the act of doing something else while driving that's dangerous but the ease with ...more

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Sep 14, 2014 Bonnie Brody rated it really liked it

One morning in September, 2006, Reggie Shaw was driving while texting on a Utah road. He was witnessed swerving into the oncoming lane several times. He ended up hitting another vehicle that held two men, both rocket scientists, husbands, and fathers. They were killed on impact. This book describes the dangers of driving and texting but, more than that, the impact of modern interactive technologies on human attention. It also goes into the lives of the people who were involved in the crash: the One morning in September, 2006, Reggie Shaw was driving while texting on a Utah road. He was witnessed swerving into the oncoming lane several times. He ended up hitting another vehicle that held two men, both rocket scientists, husbands, and fathers. They were killed on impact. This book describes the dangers of driving and texting but, more than that, the impact of modern interactive technologies on human attention. It also goes into the lives of the people who were involved in the crash: the families of the dead men, Reggie and his family, the people in the justice system, and the police.

The chapters are short and each one is about either a person who is involved in the accident on some level, the justice system, or the neuroscientists working on attention. I found the writing fascinating. I don't read a lot of non-fiction and when a book holds my attention like this one did, it has to be a page-turner. Matt Richtel, the author and a New York Times journalist, is a pulitzer prize winner.

Initially, Reggie does not remember what happened during the accident and lies about having texted while driving. He is a member of the LDS church and his greatest desire is to go on a mission. He was denied a mission once because he lied to his bishop about the nature of his relationship with his girlfriend. After the accident, he is intent on going on another mission. To those who look at him, he appears to have no remorse, though internally, he is traumatized.

Terryl is the victim's advocate for the county in Utah where the accident occurred. She has experienced a very rough childhood that has made her resilient and strong. She is determined that Reggie not get a free pass on what occurred. She wants him punished to the full extent of the law.

The research that is now occurring on attention and interactive technological devices is laid out so that anyone can understand it. It has been proven that talking on a cell phone or texting while driving causes loss of attention and an increased number of accidents. Multi-tasking decreases attention; it does not extend it. In fact, research has demonstrated that "using a phone behind the wheel is as risky as driving drunk."

I found some of the information repetitive and I felt like the author repeated things because they were so important. I agree with him. They are very important. However, I wish he had trusted the acumen of his readers to absorb and retain what he said rather than feeling the need to restate the obvious.

This is a very important book, one that I am very glad I read. I know people who are glued to their phones or other devices and rarely look up. They are a danger to themselves and others. I hope they are the ones that read this book. ...more

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Oct 19, 2014 Kris rated it liked it

This was an interesting book and I'm glad I read it, but I had a hard time with it in several places. It is absolutely unbelievable to me -- and to anyone who (there's no other way to say this) isn't an idiot -- that the young man responsible for a crash while texting didn't remember that he was texting. He denied it over and over, to law enforcement and to friends and family, and was pretty much caught red-handed coaching the not-terribly-bright young woman with whom he was texting -- and we're ...more

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Jun 01, 2015 Iliana rated it liked it · review of another edition

I think everyone should read (parts of) this book because it's still astounding how people think they are invincible and don't have a second thought about using their phone while driving. I've been in the passenger seat more than once with a driver using their phone and crossing the yellow line and they don't even think anything of it. The neuroscience bits were really interesting and changed my views on multitasking.
But there was just something about the way Richtel tells this story that ...more

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Jan 30, 2016 Dalton Snyder rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.75 Stars

I finished this a couple days ago but forgot to update my goodreads. This was a very well informed book about texting and driving and the problems technology creates in society today. However, their were points in the book that were really stretched out for absolutely no reason (during discussions in my AP English class I said that it was like a student writing a 1000 word essay but only being at 750 words so they just keep repeating what they already said until they hit word count). ...more

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Jul 11, 2014 Gideon rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everybody

Recommended to Gideon by: Gideon Cohen

A Deadly Wandering I won an advance copy from Goodreads and I have not been able to put it down. Richtel weaves an engrossing narrative, with excellently researched background and science. Richtel does a great job presenting the story, the mindset of the characters and the scientific data without imposing his own value judgements. The reader must make up their own mind. This is a must-read for anybody who uses digital devices. I guess that means it's a must-read for everybody.

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Jul 24, 2015 Chris rated it it was ok

I saw this in the airport and got it for my Kindle because it looked interesting, and it apparently was very well received. It's about a kid in Utah who is driving on the highway one morning and is texting his girlfriend. He weaves out of his lane and causes and accident that takes two lives, neither of them his. At first, he claimed he didn't remember texting while he was driving, and we are never sure if he was telling the truth or not. I suspect he wasn't, but the author didn't want to say th ...more

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Mar 27, 2019 Annie rated it liked it

Recommended to Annie by: Katherine

Shelves: non-fiction, book-club

When I was a little undergraduate at the University of Utah, getting my psychology degree, I was required to participate in a number of psychological experiments that were happening in the research labs. One of them was the driving simulation by Dr. David Strayer that was referenced in this very book! I did not get drunk and then do the driving simulation, in fact mine involved driving the simulation and then sometimes texting while driving during the simulation. For that reason alone, I quite l When I was a little undergraduate at the University of Utah, getting my psychology degree, I was required to participate in a number of psychological experiments that were happening in the research labs. One of them was the driving simulation by Dr. David Strayer that was referenced in this very book! I did not get drunk and then do the driving simulation, in fact mine involved driving the simulation and then sometimes texting while driving during the simulation. For that reason alone, I quite liked reading this book.
I was first intrigued by the tease of groundbreaking legal stuff, the first case of its kind and all that hype. When I started reading and discovered it took place in my home state of Utah, I was surprised and pulled in even further. I think the brain is a fascinating part of the human experience and enjoyed reading about research about phone usage in the car. It has absolutely influenced me to not text and drive and cut back on any phone use at all in the car. The point about your brain still processing rewarding social interactions even when you actually aren’t texting or talking, while piloting a massive machine that has the potential to kill, diverting your attention hit me in a deeper way than just some gory ad campaign that is easy to shake off. It was sobering, behavior altering reading. I think about it still, even a couple months after finishing reading the story. The book is about attention, technology and how the intersection of the two is rapidly changing our functionality and lives. Against this broader topic, is a story with a focus on one person, Reggie Shaw, and how his decision changed his life forever and his painful journey to reconstruct a “new normal”.
Reggie Shaw was one of the first people to be involved in a texting car accident. It was an interesting in that he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The book interweaves the cultural and spiritual impacts from belonging to that religion into the book, instead of downplaying them and shying away from them.
The story begins with Reggie, who is working on returning to go on his mission, and is driving to work one day, sends a text and veers just slightly over into the other lane, killing two rocket engineers headed to work at ATK (!) driving the opposite way from Reggie. The book then goes through each heartbreaking step from that point, including the viewpoint of a witness to the accident, the officer on the scene and how Reggie responds. It follows the grief journey of the families of the two men that were killed, Reggie’s continuing isolation, confusion and finally, his realization and breakdown. Terryl, is also an important character, a woman with ties to the families whose fathers and husbands were killed in the accident, who serves as their advocate for justice.
One note: There was a comment from a book club member, K-Lowe, that the author had to give everyone a tragic backstory. Once I heard that, it was difficult to read the book without noticing that pattern, intentional or not; the author did have a tendency to gravitate towards details of tragedy, sometimes unnecessary to what was already a compelling story. Terryl, is pretty fierce to read about though, having overcome a very difficult childhood.
One of the most uplifting aspects of the book is despite the tragedy and opposing sides, is to see how Reggie is so impacted by what’s happened and his courage to speak about it, take accountability as it were, actually brings each side some measure of understanding and compassion. Reggie eventually goes through a legal trial and then his path of using his experience into making real change in the community.

Content:
Some graphic details from the car accident.

Favorite Quotes

“…personal communications devices are unprecedented at capturing both our top-down and bottom up awareness systems, even without our awareness….engaging the top down systems that want to find answers, complete tasks, follow narratives. They are the narrative of our lives, our work, our relationships. How will things turn out? How are we doing at work? How are things going with our spouse, or partner, or children?
And the devices do it with lights and sounds that capture us beyond our ability to control. They buzz with incoming information, chime, change colors and images that call to us. This can reinforce our goals-altering us to important information- but also capture our attention even when we don’t want it to, even when it’s dangerous, like when we’re behind the wheel.
Technology companies are trying to get more of our brains per unit time. It’s as close to a business model as you can imagine. The more engaged you are in what they create, the more successful they are.”

“What they found was that the reward areas of the brain light up when people share. ‘Here, we suggest that humans so willingly self-disclose because doing so represents an event with intrinsic value, in the same way as with primary awards such as food and sex. The motivation to disclose our internal thoughts and knowledge to others may serve to sustain the behaviors that underlie the extreme sociality of our species.
Part of the reason why it’s not so easy to understand the powerful lure of technology-is it addictive? the cause of extreme compulsion? or simply habit forming?-has to do with the complexity of the technology itself. Various mechanisms are at work. Some have to do with the nature of the information the devices deliver- the value, say of personal information or the value of good news versus bad news. Some are purely mechanical, having to do with how the information is delivered. For instance, the speed at which a device delivers information can dictate how drawn we are to it. Another mechanical piece has tot do with the way our brains get stimulated by the mere act of touching the device and, in doing so, causing something to happen. Touch the keyboard and a letter appears…this step is separate from, and arguably more primitive than, the receiving of information; before we get information, we are getting some stimulation through the act of stimulus response.”

“The evidence is growing that very early exposure to television is associated with negative developmental outcomes…The children who watched the faced-paced show were less able to follow directions and, in a separate set of tasks, showed less patience. These are “executive function” tasks, meaning they engage the pre-frontal cortex, that all-important part of the brain involved in focus….the result is consistent with others showing long-term negative associations between entertainment television and attention.” ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 Ann Campbell rated it did not like it

I read this book for my book club, and it was assigned for my book club because a busy friend had to teach it because our university adapted it as their "campus read" (meaning all first year students must read it). My "campus read" was _The Iliad_, so my bias here is obvious. This book is a poorly cobbled together series of what must have been lectures, journalistic accounts, and maybe tv segments. It is poorly organized and sloppily written. It uses sensationalistic language to "build suspense" ...more

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Oct 29, 2014 Bookfan rated it really liked it

Shelves: people

Last week, I went on a birdwatching trip that required me to travel alone from central OH to SW West VA. It was an easy drive but I had never been there before, so I had to pay attention. I decided what better way to occupy myself while driving than listing to my tutorials for birding by ear--how to recognize songs and calls. However, I found myself having to restart the various tracks because while I was learning the difference between hairy and downy woodpeckers I found that the track was on t ...more

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Jul 16, 2015 Peter Richter rated it did not like it

I thought this book could have been a 10-20 page magazine article. Spoiler alert: Texting while driving is bad. That's basically what all the detail in the book spent on scientific research and all the detail about the trial simply boils down to. From a literary perspective, I didn't find the writing particularly compelling. I thought too much time was spent on the life histories of the characters involved in the story which wasn't really relevant to the main narrative. I found the scientific re ...more

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Sep 28, 2014 Gwenn rated it it was amazing

This book is a page turning combination of real life tragedy, neuroscientific discoveries, and the attempt of one teenager to somehow redeem the fact that he killed two people one morning, while driving and sending 11 texts to his girlfriend. You'll turn your phone off every time you get in the car after reading it, and change lanes if you see anyone staring at their phone in traffic. It could literally be the only thing that saves your life. If you have a teenage or young adult friend or family ...more

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Aug 12, 2014 LeAnna rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this. It was a nice mixture of science-heavy background and putting human faces on the important issue that is distracted driving. But it also has an overall theme that is paramount to this generation -- issues with attention and distraction due to brain-overload with all of our constantly chirping and chiming social and mobile devices.

Highly recommended.

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Mar 06, 2018 Leslie rated it it was amazing

Richtel writes, "We all know that texting and driving is dangerous, but we do it anyway. Why?" This is THE question. I wish everyone would read this book, understand the science, quit texting & driving, and we wouldn't have to ask that question anymore. This book is a great read, and it's packed with scientific evidence that we really don't have the capabilities to multitask like we think we do. Reggie's story puts a human face to the tragedy this can cause. His is a cautionary tale, and I t ...more

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Jan 26, 2019 Cindy rated it really liked it

Shelves: winter-bingo, popsugar-challenge, new-to-you, guster-2019

Very absorbing read concerning one of the seminal cases on texting & driving. In September 2006, there was little case law in regard to this subject. Reggie Shaw, a clean-cut young man, was driving on a 2 lane road when he crossed the line and caused the deaths of 2 rocket scientists in rural Utah. He had been texting and was seen to be crossing back and forth over the yellow line several times before the fatal accident. The author takes this case - in which Reggie was eventually prosecuted ...more

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Oct 26, 2018 Tracie Gutknecht rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I like almost all genres of books and this non-fiction read was pretty awesome.

This is the true story of a car accident that took the lives of two rocket scientists. It's 2006 and Reggie Shaw is like most Mormon kids his age. He works, goes to worship and is trying to figure out how to go on a mission trip. It is 7am and Reggie is on his way to work. Since he lives in Utah, he must drive over ranges and passes through the Bitterroot mountains. Weather conditions are not great and he ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 Thomas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was my second read of this book. I can't recommend it enough. Published in 2014, It tells the story of a 2006 head-on crash that killed two people. It is the first case in the US to successfully link mobile phone usage in a vehicle to a level of cogntive impairment that is the equivalent of drunk driving. The chapters tracking the incident and subsequent prosecution alternate with chapters entitles "The Neuroscientists" bringing us a roller coaster of a book. The book'ssubtitle is "A Myste ...more

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May 08, 2018 James Lang rated it it was amazing

i came to this book while doing research for my own book project on attention and distraction, and was so engaged that I read it over the course of a single day. Not only did it offer excellent information and perspectives on the science of attention--and the scientists who have been working in these arenas for the past century--but it also told a really gripping and heartbreaking story of a fatal car accident that illustrated many of the issues involved. I was completely absorbed by this book, ...more

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“He repeated that the texting driver faces a sixfold crash risk, whereas a driver talking on the phone faced a four-times increase in likelihood of a crash, which he said was roughly equivalent to someone who is legally drunk. A drunk driver and a person on a phone were equally likely to crash, whereas “we’re seeing the risk factor for accidents when someone is texting exceeds the level when people are legally drunk.” — 3 likes

“researchers worry that heavy use of interactive media can, over time, reduce attention spans. The fear is that we grow so accustomed to frequent bursts of stimulation, we have trouble feeling satisfied in their absence.” — 3 likes

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