Welcome to the launch of Focus On the Road™. My name is Kate Westad and as a personal injury attorney, I hear tragic stories of people who have been seriously injured or killed on our roads and highways in automobile collisions. Even more alarming is the number of drivers engaging in distraction driving which can and do result in these very tragic collisions and deaths.
Focus On the Road™ is a public service campaign of traffic road safety. The purpose of this campaign is to draw attention to distraction driving and to remind us all to Focus On the Road™. While the cell phone driving ban debate continues and legislation is beginning to crop up on these issues - each and every individual driver can make efforts to remind ourselves, our community, our family and our friends that distraction driving can be prevented.
What is distraction driving? Distraction driving affects us all in some form or another. We all know how easy it is to try to multi-task - even in the car. Having a longer commute or being pressed for time can mean using your car as your office or your social hub. Checking emails, voicemail, returning calls, texting, applying that coat of lip gloss or mascara, reaching for fallen items, checking MapQuest or Google Map directions or even grabbing that last minute lunch - while driving - is very tempting.
We are a mobile world
Ever increasing cell phone use has added a whole new layer to distraction driving. Recently, emailing has become a main means of communication for professionals:
E-mail has replaced the telephone as the most frequently used business communication tool, according to a new study sponsored by Oracle Corp. and conducted by KRC Research. The research found that 56 percent of professionals said they could not live without e-mail, and 44 percent said they use e-mail almost twice as much as they use the telephone.
For those younger drivers - it may mean using your time in the car to continue socializing. For the younger generation, texting is a mainstay:
About 63% of Americans from ages 18 to 27 text message, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey out in March. Those teens are bringing texting to their parents - or are moving into the workforce and texting with older colleagues. Now 31% of cell phone owners ages 28 to 39 use text, and 18% of those 40 to 49 do, Pew reports. June 2005: About 5 billion text messages are sent a month in the USA, up from 2.8 billion a year ago, according to the wireless trade association CTIA.
Research shows that driver inattention is a leading factor in most crashes
Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a landmark research report released in 2006 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.
The 2006 NHTSA study revealed that drivers who engage frequently in distracting activities are more likely to be involved in an inattention-related crash or near-crash. However, drivers are often unable to predict when it is safe to look away from the road to multi-task because the situation can change abruptly, leaving the driver no time to react even when looking away from the forward roadway for only a brief time.
The study also showed that the most common distraction for drivers is the use of cell phones. However, the number of crashes and near-crashes attributable to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening. Dialing is more dangerous but occurs less often than talking or listening. Reaching for a moving object increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by 9 times; looking at an external object by 3.7 times; reading by 3 times; applying makeup by 3 times; dialing a hand-held device (typically a cell phone) by almost 3 times; and talking or listening on a hand-held device by 1.3 times.
An alarming number of teenagers think it is okay to text and drive. A recent survey by Zogby International reveals that two-thirds of U.S. drivers between the age of 18 and 24 think its okay to send text messages while they're driving. Another poll indicates that half of all teens admit to sending text messages while driving. As of January 2008, another reader poll open to the public listed 41% of drivers taking the poll admitting to texting while driving.
But, not only is texting and emailing super dangerous in and of itself, many of the popular gadgets such as Side-kicks, Blackberrys and Treos require two digit typing. NOT conducive to safe driving!
See also NHTSA Policy and FAQs on Cellular Phone Use While Driving.
Create accountability! Take the Focus On the Road™ pledge today. Print off, sign this pledge and keep it with your driver's license. Pledge to yourself that you will work to prevent your own distraction driving:
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