U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood just launched Faces of Distracted Driving, an online video series exploring the tragic consequences of texting and cell phone use while driving. The series features people from across the country who have been injured or lost loved ones in distracted driving crashes.
In 2009, said the Department of Transportation (DOT), nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in accidents involving a distracted driver.
These videos are dramatic evidence that the lives lost to Americas distracted driving epidemic arena statistics. They’re children, parents, neighbors, and friends, said Secretary LaHood. These people have courageously come forward to share their tragic stories in order to warn others against making the dangerous decision to talk or text behind the wheel. The video can be accessed at https://www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/distracted-driving.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is encouraging others who would like to share their experiences with distracted driving to post videos on YouTube.
Faces of Distracted Driving is part of Secretary LaHood’s effort to raise public awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and to support victims. In January, Secretary LaHood joined anti-distracted driving advocate Jennifer Smith to announce the creation of Focus Driven, the first national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending distracted driving.
Distracted driving can have dangerous and life-altering consequences, said FocusDriven President Jennifer Smith. These videos will hopefully help change behaviors behind the wheel and keep our roads safe for everyone.
We recently wrote that almost half of all drivers have, at one point or another, fallen asleep while driving, citing CBS News. According to CBS News national correspondent, Jim Axelrod, about 41 percent of drivers admit to having had fallen asleep or nodded off at least once. That data was based on a survey conducted by AAA that revealed that one in 10 drivers admitted to having fallen asleep in the past year, over half on a highway, with one in six traffic accidents ending in death involving a so-called drowsy driver, said CBS News.
If you’re looking down at a cell phone for four seconds or a texting device for four seconds, you’re driving the length of a football field without looking at the road, La Hood previously announced.
In January, we wrote that truckers and bus drivers are banned from texting when driving and the Washington Post reported that cell phone use and texting while driving leads to 1.6 million accidents annually, according to National Safety Council (NSC) estimates.
In July, Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute revealed that texting truckers are 23 times likelier to either be involved in a crash or a near miss, said the Washington Post. According to the NSC, 1.4 million crashes each year are caused by drivers using cell phones; some 200,000 additional crashes each year caused by drivers who are texting.
Help filing claims and other legal assistance for the victims of distracted driving is available at www.yourlawyer.com.
