Driving Distractions

Distracted driving involving  cellphones account for approximately 20% of the fatalities and 5% of the injuries. This means that most distracted driving crashes involves  other forms of distractions. Crashes caused by texting is on the rise, mainly because texting is done by younger inexperienced drivers. According to researchers from the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Ft. Worth, texting behind the wheel accounted for over 16,000 deaths between 2002 and 2007.   

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that over 6% of US drivers were observed using a cell phone. The increase in traffic fatalities  appears to be related to  how handheld devices are used. They beep or vibrate much more frequently – and when they do, most people turn their attention   from their driving responsibility and are distracted by other devices.

Over 50 % of the drivers surveyed said they feel less safe driving today than they did in the past. Of those over 85% felt that texting/e-mailing while driving is a serious threat. Although most of those surveyed, said they talk on the cellphone while driving. A small percentage said they had texted or dialed a number while driving.