Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Distracted Driving Kills

Last Sunday the Chicago Tribune ran an article that is very concerning to read, but the data isn’t all that surprising to me.
"Americans are doing just about everything in their car except focusing on driving,"


We have seen numerous crashes caused by distracted drivers and, as you can guess if you read the article, they do outnumber alcohol-related crashes. The outcry caused by these crashes doesn’t reach the level of alcohol-related crashes, probably because of all of the multi-tasking (and distracted) drivers that are out there.
More than 80 percent of the 1,200 people who responded to its survey identified themselves as "multitaskers," drivers who do at least one other thing besides mind the helm. Motorists age 18 to 27 were the least focused on driving, with 35 percent saying they always multitask.


It is however just as critical that folks realize the real dangers of driving distracted and that it doesn’t take much in the way of distraction to crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that in nearly 80 percent of accidents the driver was distracted three seconds or less before the crash.


We need a campaign “Don’t do the stuff you do and drive”. Not as catchy as “Don’t Drink and Drive”, but just as important to “drive home”.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, fewer and fewer drivers bother to use their turn signals. You'd think that if they can multitask, they could do that much.

I see virtually no traffic enforcement anywhere, except the occasional speeder pulled over. Analysis of causes of collisions is great, but maybe the police need to act pre-emptively as well.