Of all the skills demanded by contemporary civilization the one of driving an automobile is certainly the most important to the individual, in the sense at least that a defect in it is the greatest threat to his life. But despite the consequent importance of knowledge about the nature and acquisition of this scale, no more than a beginning in this direction has been made by psychologists, and that chiefly in the field of devising tests to measure some of its inferred components. A systematic set of concepts is needed in terms of which we can describe precisely what goes on when a man drives an automobile, and such a theory, it is to be useful, must have practical as well as psychological validity. This paper has been written in the effort to make a systematic description of this sort. http://www.jstor.org/view/00029556/ap050198/05a00020/0 Keywords: Driver distraction;