Distracted & Careless Driving
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| Poster from Mn. Safety Council |
There are three main types of distraction:
- Visual — taking your eyes off the road
- Manual — taking your hands off the wheel
- Cognitive — taking your mind off what you’re doing
Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.
While all distractions can endanger drivers’ safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.
Research on distracted driving reveals some surprising facts: Based on crash reports where law enforcement recorded distracted driving as a cause of the crash
- In 2008, almost 20 percent of all crashes in the year involved some type of distraction. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - NHTSA).
- Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. (NHTSA)
- The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.
- Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
- Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)
Highlights
Police-reported data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the National Automotive Sampling
System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES) show that:
- In 2009, there were 30,797 fatal crashes in the United States, which involved 45,230 drivers. In those crashes 33,808 people died.
- In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction (16% of total fatalities).
- The proportion of fatalities reportedly associated with driver distraction increased from 10 percent in 2005 to 16 percent in 2009. During that time, fatal crashes with reported driver distraction also increased from 10 percent to 16 percent.
- The portion of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of the fatal crashes increased from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2009.
- The under-20 age group had the highest proportion of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes (16%). The age group with the next greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the 20- to-29-year-old age group – 13 percent of all 20-to-29-year-old drivers in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted.
- Of those drivers reportedly distracted during a fatal crash, the 30-to-39-year-old drivers were the group with the greatest proportion distracted by cell phones. Cell phone distraction was reported for 24 percent of the 30-to-39-year-old distracted drivers in fatal crashes.
- Light-truck drivers and motorcyclists had the greatest percentage of total drivers reported as distracted at the time of the fatal crash (12% each). Bus drivers had the lowest percentage (6%) of total drivers involved in fatal crashes that were reported as distraction-related.
- An estimated 20 percent of 1,517,000 injury crashes were reported to have involved distracted driving in 2009.
Police-reported data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the National Automotive Sampling show that:
The following website will list all the traffic laws that do not pertain to drinking and driving.www.revisor.mn.gov/statues/?id=169
Link Youtube Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6ta2whI8Gk
The Most Common Distractions that Drivers Suffer from while Driving
Answering Cell Phone Calls
This is one of the most common distractions while driving. Many people do it despite the potential dangers. Hands free sets may help some, but it’s the conversation that takes away the driver’s focus on the road ahead.
Multi Tasking
Many people also try to do other things while driving such as eating, putting on make up, reading and turning to talk to the people in the back seat. Sometimes more than one of these actions are done at the same time or together with talking on the cell phone.
Texting While Driving
This is most common with young drivers. Many young people do not talk on the cell phone, they just text. Texting while driving takes away the use of one hand and requires you to occasionally glance at the phone. That moment of glancing down could be the time a child runs out in the street or the car in front of you suddenly stops. This can lead to disastrous results.
Loud Music
Some people like turning their car stereos very loud. Unfortunately this can also drown out important sounds from outside the car such as car horns, sirens, and the engine sounds of other cars near by. These are important cues that help a driver become aware of his surroundings.
Reading Maps
People who are traveling in unfamiliar roads often bring maps with them for reference. Unfortunately, maps also take the driver’s concentration from what he is doing. In the few seconds that it takes to glance at the map, an accident can easily take place. The new GPS devices for cars help eliminate this problem but adjusting the GPS is just as distractive.
Negative Emotional Stress
Many people drive while undergoing extreme stress. Negative emotions, especially anger can lead people to lose focus while driving. In some cases, it may even aggravate their driving styles. Many people drive more aggressively when they are angry