Safety Talks- week 28

Distracted driving is any activity that diverts a driver’s attention away from the task of driving. These distractions can be electronic, such as text messaging or using a navigation system, tablet, or cellphone, or more conventional, such as talking to a passenger or eating. Other common distractions include grooming, reading, drinking, watching a video, or changing the radio station, CD, or MP3 player. Because text messaging—texting— involves cognitive, visual, and manual attention, it has received the most legal attention in recent years, including legislative bans on texting while driving.

It’s well documented in multiple university studies that drivers simply can’t safely do two things at once. These studies concluded that motorists talking on a handheld or even a hands-free cellular phone are as impaired as intoxicated drivers with a blood alcohol level of 0.8 (the minimum level that defines druks driving in most states).

Here are a few eye-opening statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that may encourage drivers to limit their distractions:

• Drivers who use handheld devices while driving are four times as likely to get into accidents serious enough to injure themselves or others.
  • In 2015, an estimated 391,000 people were injured in motor vehicle accidents involving a distracted driver, and 3,450 people were killed in such accidents in 2016.
  • At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 481,000 drivers are using Cellphones while driving.

Perhaps the most common distraction is cellphone use. About 89 percent (approximately 277 million) of Americans have a cellphone, and 77 percent of those individuals report that at least some of the time they talk on the phone while driving.

Distracted driving has risen to unprecedented levels, and state legislatures have taken action. Eleven states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands have banned handheld cell phone use for all drivers: and 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have banned text messaging by all drivers.

Distracted driving is any activity that diverts a driver’s attention away from the task of driving. These distractions can be electronic, such as text messaging or using a navigation system, tablet, or cellphone, or more conventional, such as talking to a passenger or eating. Other common distractions include grooming, reading, drinking, watching a video, or changing the radio station, CD, or MP3 player. Because text messaging—texting— involves cognitive, visual, and manual attention, it has received the most legal attention in recent years, including legislative bans on texting while driving.

• It’s well documented in multiple university studies that drivers simply can’t safely do two things at once. These studies concluded that motorists talking on a handheld or even a hands-free cellular phone are as impaired as intoxicated drivers with a blood alcohol level of

• (the minimum level that defines drums driving in most states).

Here are a few eye-opening statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that may encourage drivers to limit their distractions:

• Drivers who use handheld devices while driving are four times as likely to get into accidents serious enough to injure themselves or others.
  • In 2015, an estimated 391,000 people were injured in motor vehicle accidents involving a distracted driver, and 3,450 people were killed in such accidents in 2016.
  • At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 481,000 drivers are using Cellphones while driving.

Perhaps the most common distraction is cellphone use. About 89 percent (approximately 277 million) of Americans have a cellphone, and 77 percent of those individuals report that at least some of the time they talk on the phone while driving.

Everyone Has a Personal Responsibility

Common sense and personal responsibility are a big part of the solution. But the problem can’t simply be legislated away. Many corporations and utilities have adopted strict hands- free driving policies for their employees. President Barack Obama issued an executive order in 2011 that prohibits more than 4 million federal employees from texting behind the wheel while working or while using government vehicles and communication devices.

More portable technology is available now than ever before, and driver distractions have risen to unprecedented and alarming levels. We live in a world where people expect instant, real—time information 24 hours a day, and those desires do not stop just because people get behind the wheel. Drivers don’t always realize the dangers of taking their eyes and minds off the road, their hands off the wheel, and focusing on activities other than driving.

For more information, go to the official US Government website for distracted driving: www. distraction.gov, or the National Safety Council website on the topic: http:/www.nsc.org/ learn/NSC—Initiatives/Pages/distracted—driving.aspx.