Distracted Driving

 

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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 View the National Safety Council, Nebraska Cell Phone Policy

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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

  • WOWT Factoids

    • Drivers who use cell phones are four times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers who are not using a cell phone.

    -2005 Insurance Institute of Highway Safety study

    • Distractions now join alcohol and speeding as leading factors in fatal and serious injury crashes.

    -Statistic from the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    • According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimate, 11 percent of drivers are using cell phones at any given time,

    -Statistic from the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    • More than one in four motor vehicle crashes involve cell phone use at the time of the crash.

    -Statistic from the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    • Multitasking is a myth. Human brains do not perform two tasks at the same time, such as driving and texting. Instead, the brain handles tasks sequentially, switching between one task and another.

    -Statistic from the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    • A driver’s response to sudden hazards, such as another driver’s behavior, weather conditions, work zones, animals or objects in the roadway, often is the critical factor between a crash and a near-crash. When the brain is experiencing an increased workload, such as driving and using a cell phone, the information processing slows and a driver is much less likely to respond to unexpected hazards in time to avoid a crash.

    -Statistic from the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    • Drivers using hands-free phones (and those using handheld phones) have a tendency to “look at” but not “see” objects. Estimates indicate that drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment.

    -Strayer, D. L. (2007, February 28). Presentation at Cell Phones and Driver Distraction. Traffic Safety Coalition, Washington DC.

    • The National Safety Council estimates 21 percent of all crashes in 2010 involved talking on cell phones – accounting for 1.1 million crashes that year. A minimum of three percent of crashes were estimated to involve texting.

    -Kolosh, K. Summary of Estimate Model. (2012). National Safety Council. Retrieved from

    http://www.nsc.org/news_resources/Resources/Documents/NSC Estimate Summary.pdf

    • Drivers talking on cell phones make more driving errors than drivers talking with passengers. Why? Adult passengers often actively help drivers by monitoring and discussing traffic.  Passengers tend

    to suppress conversation when driving conditions are demanding

    - From the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    •  More than two-thirds of respondents to a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey reported talking on cell phones while driving during the previous 30 days. Nearly one in three admitted they engaged in this behavior fairly often or regularly.

    -AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. (2011). Traffic Safety Culture Index.

    • In 2010, an estimated minimum of 160,000 crashes involved texting or emailing and 1.1 million crashes involving talking on cell phones.

    -Kolosh, K. Summary of Estimate Model. (2012). National Safety Council. Retrieved from

    http://www.nsc.org/news_resources/Resources/Documents/NSC Estimate Summary.pdf

    • Hands-free devices often are seen as a solution to the risks of driver distraction because they help eliminate two obvious risks – visual, looking away from the road and manual, removing your hands

    off of the steering wheel. However, a third type of distraction can occur when using cell phones while driving – cognitive, taking your mind off the road.

    -From the National Safety Council 2010 report “Understanding the distracted brain.”

    • Hands-free phone use led to an increase in reaction time to braking vehicles in front of drivers, and reaction time increased more and crashes were more likely as the traffic density increased.

    - Strayer, D. L., Drew, F. A., & Johnston, W. A. (2003). Cell-phone induced failures of visual attention during simulated driving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 9, (1) 23-32.

    • Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. Distraction occurs any time you take your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel, and your mind off your primary task: driving safely.

    -taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • 11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.

    - taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • 40% of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger.

    - taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.

    - taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent, at 55 mph, of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.

    - taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%.

    - taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • Seatbelts or safety restraints were not used in 55.3 percent of fatal crashes in Nebraska in 2011.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • In 2011, 440 crashes cited mobile phones or other driver distractions as the contributing factors in the crash.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • While behind the wheel, one text while driving is equivalent to consuming four beers.
      -A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver, David L. Strayer,
      Frank A. Drews, and Dennis J. Crouch, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
      http://dwiwatch.org/cell-phone-texting.php

    • During 2011, one crash occurred every 16 minutes in Nebraska. Forty-four persons were injured each day. One person was killed every 48 hours.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • Drowsy driving causes an estimated 1,550 deaths a year and 40,000 injuries.

    - (CDC Report) http://negligentdriving.com/distracted.cfm

    • More than 80% of drivers admit to blatantly hazardous behavior: changing clothes, steering with a foot, painting nails and shaving.

    - (Nationwide Mutual Insurance Survey) http://negligentdriving.com/distracted.cfm

    • Distracted driving is made up of three types of distractions and they are anything that takes your: eyes off the road (visual), mind off the road (cognitive), hands off the steering wheel (manual).

    - taken from the US Government website for distracted driving:  www.distraction.gov

    • Most work zone crashes are rear-end collisions resulting from speed or distracted driving. In 2011, 420 crashes occurred in Nebraska’s work zones.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • In a recent AT&T teen driver survey, 97 percent of teens said texting while driving was dangerous but 43 percent admit to doing so.

    -http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=23181

    • In 2011, there were 164 fatal crashes, 11,185 injury crashes, and 20,953 property damage only crashes.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • One third of drivers age 18 to 24 felt they could take their eyes off the road for 3 to 10 seconds or more before driving becomes significantly more dangerous.

    -National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Phone Survey on Distracted Driving Attitudes and Behaviors.

    • Of the 164 fatal crashes on Nebraska roadways in 2011, 47 occurred on urban roadways and 117 occurred on rural interstates, highways or local streets.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • Of the 164 fatal crashes on Nebraska roadways in 2011, 49 fatal crashes had apparent alcohol involvement.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • Crashes can occur at any time, but in 2011 23.4 percent of all crashes occurred between 3-6 p.m. and 51.2 percent of all fatal crashes took place between noon and 9 p.m.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

    • In 2011, 48.5 percent of drivers involved in crashes were age 34 or younger. Drivers age 15 to 24 were involved in 28.9 percent of crashes. Drives age 45 to 50 were in the most fatal crashes, 19.7 percent.

    -from the Nebraska Department of Roads 2011 Annual Report: Traffic Crash Facts

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