Study: Distraction Behind Most Car Crashes

[zippyjuan]

Study: Distraction Behind Most Car Crashes

An unidentifed man talks on his cell phone as he drives along Route 1 in Lawrenceville, N.J., in this Thursday, June 24, 2004, file photo. DANIEL HULSHIZERBy KEN THOMAS (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
April 20, 2006 7:41 PM EDT
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Those sleep-deprived, multitasking drivers - clutching cell phones, fiddling with their radios or applying lipstick - apparently are involved in an awful lot of crashes.

Distracted drivers were involved in nearly eight out of 10 collisions or near-crashes, says a study released Thursday by the government.

Researchers reviewed thousands of hours of video and data from sensor monitors linked to more than 200 drivers, and pinpointed examples of what keeps drivers from paying close attention to the road.

"We see people on the roadways talking on the phone, checking their stocks, checking scores, fussing with their MP3 players, reading e-mails, all while driving 40, 50, 60, 70 miles per hour and sometimes even faster," said Jacqueline Glassman, acting administrator of the government's highway safety agency.

A driver's reaching for a moving object increased the risk of a crash or potential collision by nine times, according to researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

They found that the risk of a crash increases almost threefold when a driver is dialing a cell phone.

Video footage shows four different angles of the driver - the face, a view of the steering wheel and instrument panel, and front and rear views of the vehicle - and offers a look at the moments before a crash:

-a young woman craning her neck to look out the driver's side window before rear-ending a stopped car. She cups her hand over her mouth in disbelief.

-an out-of-control sedan skidding in front a woman's car, causing a collision. The air bag deploys and the driver's hair, tied back behind her ears, flies into her face.

Researchers said the report showed the first links between crash risks and a driver's activities, from eating and talking to receiving e-mail.

"All of these activities are much more dangerous than we thought before," said Dr. Charlie Klauer, a senior research associate at the institute. Data from police reports had estimated that driver inattention was a factor in about 25 percent of crashes.

Some safety organizations said the study was part of a growing body of research and worried it might lead to reactionary laws.

"I urge legislators not to interpret these results as a need for new legislative initiatives. It is simply not good public policy to pass laws addressing every type of driver behavior," said Lt. Col. Jim Champagne, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

For many drivers, the research offered more proof of what they see on their daily commutes.

John Simpson of Christiansburg, Va., said his "personal favorite" is once seeing a woman in traffic "with her knees up on the steering wheel, sheet music in her lap and she was playing the flute."

But Simpson, a 20-year-old who works for a fire safety business, says multitasking can be a necessity. For example, he must take calls from customers while driving in his Chevy Astro van.

"I'm notorious for the cell phone and coffee. But if you're up on the road at 6 o'clock in the morning, coffee is probably the best thing in the world," he said.

For more than a year, researchers studied the behavior of the drivers of 100 vehicles in metropolitan Washington, D.C. They tracked 241 drivers, who were involved in 82 crashes of various degrees of seriousness - 15 were reported to police - and 761 near-crashes. The air bag deployed in three instances.

The project analyzed nearly 2 million miles driven and more than 43,300 hours of data.

Drowsy driving increased the driver's risk of a crash or near-crash by four times to six times, the study said. But the study's authors said drowsy driving is frequently underreported in police investigations.

When drivers took long glances away from the road at the wrong moment, they were twice as likely to get into a crash, the report said.

Assessing cell phone use, the researchers said the number of crashes or near-crashes linked to dialing the phones was nearly identical to those tied to talking or listening on the phone.

Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have laws that prohibit people from talking on handheld cell phones while driving.

A government report last year found that about 10 percent of drivers are using cell phones.

The cell phone industry and others say distraction takes many forms; for example, eating food, going through the newspaper or inserting CDs into the stereo system.

Also Thursday, a preliminary report from the safety agency said the highway death rate rose slightly in 2005 after falling for two years. The government said 43,200 people died on the road, compared with 42,636 in 2004.

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On the Net:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: http://www.nhtsa.gov

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute: http://www.vtti.vt.edu/

[irwin]

The sky is blue.

[eSDee]

How many millions were wasted on this study, and how can I get some of that action?

[speedracer120]

How many millions were wasted on this study, and how can I get some of that action?

ROFLMAO

eSDee, when you find out, hook a brutha up.

[Apex]

60% of non-political posts placed INCORRECTLY into offtopic should go into automotive.

Thankfully, no monies were spent in that very very obvious study.

Moving to correct forum, once again.

[johnnymk]

Well, even though it's obvious, I see tons and tons of drivers talking on cell phones. It really irritates me.

[sizemic1]

Hell, even Mythbusters confirmed this theory.

[gwilks98]

I've been a distracted driver for almost 10 years. I fiddle with the radio. I eat while driving, talk on the cell phone and I've never had a problem. I've ridden in the car with plenty of distracted drivers and never had a problem.

I'm ok with legislation that punishes people who have an accident while distracted, but against legislation that says it's illegal to do certain activities while driving that don't cause problems in the majority of cases.

[Daedalus]

I've been a distracted driver for almost 10 years. I fiddle with the radio. I eat while driving, talk on the cell phone and I've never had a problem. I've ridden in the car with plenty of distracted drivers and never had a problem.

I'm ok with legislation that punishes people who have an accident while distracted, but against legislation that says it's illegal to do certain activities while driving that don't cause problems in the majority of cases.

Are you serious? Do you think it's possible to categorize distracted drivers into 2 groups--those who pose a higher risk for accidents and those who don't? Which group do you think all these distracted drivers would place themselves the day before they cause their first accident? Using similar logic, could I argue that someone who has never had a house fire shouldn't buy insurance? Fire has never occurred, therefore it never will and insurance would be a waste of money. When did it become acceptable to place innocent strangers at a higher risk of death and injury just because someone else has to make a phone call?

[gwilks98]

When did it become acceptable to place innocent strangers at a higher risk of death and injury just because someone else has to make a phone call?

The reverse logic is you overprotect everyone because a few people have no common sense. Think about all the cool things you used to have as a kid that are outlawed now because some moron had to ruin it for everyone. I can't stand being punished for the stupidity of others. It's something I'm never going to get used to.

I know that there are ways to do 2 things at once without putting you or anyone else at severe risk. If i'm going through a dangerous or busy intersection, I put the phone down for a second. I keep my hands and elbows out of my peripheral vision. I don't look at the radio while I figit. There are ways to do this, some people just haven't figured it out.

Besides, what are you going to do with people with ADD? What about the guy who's driving just after he found out his mom died? You are going to have distracted drivers out there no matter how many laws you try to enforce. I see this kind of propaganda as nothing more than the state trying to find a way to ticket people to get more money.

The best thing one can do is be defensive and hope the dice doesn't roll against you. I'm ok with knowing that sh!t happens to good people and I don't dwell on it like a baby if it happens to me. Life is too short.


DANGER DANGER..starting to form into a political thread.

two nuns walk into a bar....

[Daedalus]

The reverse logic is you overprotect everyone because a few people have no common sense. Think about all the cool things you used to have as a kid that are outlawed now because some moron had to ruin it for everyone. I can't stand being punished for the stupidity of others. It's something I'm never going to get used to.

I know that there are ways to do 2 things at once without putting you or anyone else at severe risk. If i'm going through a dangerous or busy intersection, I put the phone down for a second. I keep my hands and elbows out of my peripheral vision. I don't look at the radio while I figit. There are ways to do this, some people just haven't figured it out.

Besides, what are you going to do with people with ADD? What about the guy who's driving just after he found out his mom died? You are going to have distracted drivers out there no matter how many laws you try to enforce. I see this kind of propaganda as nothing more than the state trying to find a way to ticket people to get more money.

The best thing one can do is be defensive and hope the dice doesn't roll against you. I'm ok with knowing that sh!t happens to good people and I don't dwell on it like a baby if it happens to me. Life is too short.


DANGER DANGER..starting to form into a political thread.

two nuns walk into a bar....

This is so much more basic than legal or political views. This is about a callous and insensitive who-gives-a-fvck attitute toward others. You're OK that stuff happens to good people, but that's so easy to say. You're probably not walking on 1 leg or crapping into a bag because someone else *chose* to be distracted. This is not about how good a driver you think *you* are when you're on a cell phone. Look at the statistic. Distracted drivers were involved in nearly eight out of 10 collisions or near-crashes. That is a major correlation. Until we figure out how to train people to drive as well as you while on a cell phone, it won't hurt to find more plausible methods of engouraging them to keep 2 hands on the wheel. Things were bad enough before cell phones were even invented. That is why we have airbags, another item of apparent propaganda mandated by law. Life IS too short. I can't think of any cool things I did as a kid that's illegal now, except maybe riding motorcycles without helmets and riding in the back of an open pick-up bed. You think those laws are bad?

[gwilks98]

Alls I'm saying is that laws that punish behavior that can be misused is wrong in my eyes. Severely punish the misuse and treat people like adults.