Distracted Driving Cause Serious Car Accidents. So-called “distracted driving” is a leading cause of serious car accidents, and the growing use of cell phones and text messaging has only added to the danger.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), at any given moment during the daylight hours, over 660,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone or other electronic device. Available research indicates that cell phone use while driving, whether a hands-free or hand-held device is in use, degrades a driver’s performance, according to the agency.
Consider these statistics from the NHTSA:
- The leading source of driver inattention is use of a cell phone or other wireless device.
- Ten percent of fatal crashes in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, were reported to be distraction-affected crashes.
- Seventeen percent of injury crashes in 2011 were reported to be distraction-affected crashes.
- In 2011, more than 3,300 people died and 387,000 were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the NHTSA.
- Of those injured in distraction-affected crashes, an estimated 21,000 were injured in crashes that involved the use of cell phones at the time of the crashes (5% of injured people in distraction-affected crashes).
- Eleven percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as being distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest proportion of distracted drivers.
Other studies have found that talking on a cell phone or texting can severely impair the ability to drive. For instances, researchers at the University of Utah have determined that cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver’s reaction as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.
Another study, from Carnegie Mellon University, found that driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.Other studies have found that talking on a cell phone or texting can severely impair the ability to drive.
For instances, researchers at the University of Utah have determined that cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver’s reaction as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. Another study, from Carnegie Mellon University, found that driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.
Teens and Cell Phones
Teenagers are probably the most enthusiastic users of cell phones and texting. In fact, an April 2010 study from the Pew Research Foundation found that fully 72 percent of all teens — or 88 percent of teen cell phone users — are text-messagers – up from the 51 percent of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54 percent) are daily texters, the Pew study found. Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends.
Most disturbingly, 34 percent of teens aged 16-17 admitted to texting while driving. According to the Pew study, that translates into 26 percent of all American teens ages 16-17.
Other findings from the Pew study included:
- Half (52 percent) of cell-owning teens ages 16-17 say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. That translates into 43 percent of all American teens ages 16-17.
- 48 percent of all teens ages 12-17 say they have been in a car when the driver was texting.
- 40 percent say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.
Boys and girls are equally likely to report texting behind the wheel as well as riding with texting drivers. As teens get older, they are more likely to report riding with drivers who text, the Pew study found.
Need Legal Help Regarding Distracted Driving?
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