Distracted Driving

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National Safety Council Cell Phone Policy Kit
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Driver inattention is a leading cause of traffic crashes, responsible for about 80 percent of all collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Considering crashes are the number-one cause of accidental death in the U.S., it is important to pay close attention to our driving habits and those of other drivers.

Click Here to Download the June 24, 2009 Cell Phone Presentation

Click Here to View the National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter's Cell Phone Policy

For More Information, Stats, and Videos Please Click Here

Texting While Driving Video

Here is the official link to the Cow video about texting and driving. This is actually the official link to the video from the Gwent Police Department in Wales, and contains a short background story about the video.

http://www.gwent.police.uk/leadnews.php?a=2172

Cell Phone Use While Driving Fact Sheet

Using cell phones while driving is a very high risk behavior with significant impact on crashes and society. More than 50 peer-reviewed scientific studies have identified the risks associated with cell phone use while driving.
Drivers who use cell phones are four times more likely to be in a crash while using a cell phone. (1997 New England Journal of Medicine examination of hospital records and 2005 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study linking crashes to cell phone records).
There is no difference in the cognitive distraction between hand-held and hands-free devices. (Simulator studies at the U. of Utah.)
Cell phone use contributes to an estimated 6 percent of all crashes, which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year. (Harvard Center of Risk Analysis).
80 percent of crashes are related to driver inattention. There are certain activities that may be more dangerous than talking on a cell phone. However, cell phone use occurs more frequently and for longer durations than other, riskier behaviors. Thus, the #1 source of driver inattention is cell phones. (Virginia Tech 100-car study for NHTSA)
It is estimated that more than 100 million people use cell phones while driving. (CTIA – The Wireless Association reports 270 million cell phone subscribers. A Nationwide Insurance public opinion poll showed 81 percent of the public admit to talking on a cell phone while driving).
The annual cost of crashes caused by cell phone use is estimated to be $43 billion (Harvard Center for Risk Analysis).
Talking to a passenger while driving is significantly safer than talking on a cell phone. (University of Utah)
Many businesses understand the risk and are already taking action. Among National Safety Council members that responded to a survey, 45 percent (651 of 1453 respondents) said their companies had a cell phone policy of some kind. Of those, 22 percent said they re-engineered their processes to accommodate the policy and 85 percent said the policy did not affect productivity.

Source: National Safety Council

Hands-Free Phones No Safer Than Handheld Phones

A new study in the National Safety Council’s Journal of Safety Research concludes there is little difference between the driving safety risk of using hands-free cell phones and using hand held phones. The study confirms that any form of cell phone use is a distraction that detracts from the brain’s ability to focus on safe driving.

Researchers found hands-free and handheld phones are equally dangerous for drivers. Both types of phones:

Cause more accidents and driving errors
Impair reaction times
Slow down overall vehicle speed

“It’s just not possible for our brains to focus on the road and the call or text,” said David Teater, NSC senior director of transportation strategic initiatives.

Source: National Safety Council