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

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

October 2014

I heard Matt Richtel speak about A DEADLY WANDERING: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention last May, and the storyline intrigued me. Reggie, a teen, was driving to work one early morning. He crossed the yellow line into the other lane, more than once, and that precipitated an accident that killed two prominent rocket scientists who were fathers and husbands. Prior to the accident, it was learned that the teen was texting, though he does not remember doing this. Texting for him is something he did all day, not thinking about how it distracted him.

I spend a lot of time in my car. I spend a lot of time on the phone wearing this headset like I am a receptionist from the 1950s or my Bluetooth. I do not text as I drive; I barely text when I am not driving. But as I drive down the road each day, I see people actively doing it. A friend told my husband recently that he is considering giving up riding his motorcycle (one he fitted to have a way to carry his golf clubs to the course when he plays). The reason: people texting. He said there is nothing so scary as sitting at a light on his bike, looking in a mirror and seeing a car hurling towards him from behind with the driver looking down, clearly texting.

As I drive down the highway, I frequently am behind someone who is speeding and slowing. As I pass them, I realize that they are holding a phone. So clearly the subject here had my attention.

Richtel tells the story of the accident, what people thought happened, and the investigation combing through phone records and other data to learn what REALLY happened. The book is split into three sections: “Collision,” “Reckoning” and “Redemption.” Chapters are called “Reggie,” “Terryl” (who is working with investigators on the case), “Hunt for Justice,” “The Neuroscientists,” “The Lawmakers” and “Justice.” Divided like this, readers are able to examine each side of the case.

“The Neuroscientists” pages were the ones that slowed me down as my science acumen is pretty low, but in reading this section, I understand the power of distraction much, much more. They outline the way the brain works and how it recovers from distraction. “The Lawmakers” sections detail how difficult it is to outline a law, especially in a state where there is a culture that embraces personal freedoms, and how there was no precedent for this kind of legislation.

As a sidenote, the book provides a glimpse into the Mormon and LDS community, as Reggie’s goal is to do a mission in which LDS youth spend two years away from family providing spiritual awakening. What he ends up accomplishing with his life will be something that will stay with a wider group of people and become his own personal mission.

I dare you to read A DEADLY WANDERING and not think about how inattention can be both deadly and an unconscious thing that we need to be more conscious about. There’s lots to discuss here for book groups that would like to explore a nonfiction topic with a strong storyline behind it.

A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age
by Matt Richtel

  • Publication Date: June 2, 2015
  • Genres: Nonfiction, Social Sciences, Technology
  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
  • ISBN-10: 006228407X
  • ISBN-13: 9780062284075