“Every single time you take your eyes off the road or talk on the phone while you’re driving—even for just a few seconds—you put yourself and others in danger,” according to Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation. According to LaHood, nearly 5,500 persons were killed and 450,000 injured in distracted driving crashes in 2009. That translates into nearly 15 people dying and 1,200 being injured each day in the United States from distracted driving. Among those killed or injured in 2009, nearly 1,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries included cell phone use as a major distraction, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. LaHood calls distracted driving “an epidemic on America’s roadways.”

Prevalence

A 2010 CDC survey documented just how extensive cell phone distractions are in the US. Drivers were asked how often they talked on their phones while driving in the past 30 days and 25% of respondents said they talked regularly or fairly often. The prevalence increased with younger age such that 40% of respondents 18-29 said they spoke regularly or fairly often. The comparable overall figure for texting or emailing while driving was 9% and for young persons was 25%. Prevalence figures for selected European countries were generally lower than in the US for talking on the phone (ranging from 3-21%) and for texting or emailing (ranging from 10% to 1%).

Observations

Observational survey data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration have found that 5% of drivers in traffic are talking on cell phones at a typical daytime moment.

The topic of distracted driving made headlines in December 2012 when the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called for a nationwide ban on driver use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle. The ban would be accompanied by strong enforcement and communication campaigns.

Life and Death Issue

In calling for the ban, Deborah Hersman, Chairman of the NTSB, said “The data is clear; the time to act is now. How many more lives will be lost before we, as a society, change our attitudes about the deadliness of distractions? She went on to say, “No call, no text, no update is worth a human life.”

The DOT has already prohibited interstate truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles.

Public Attitudes

However, the public’s attitudes and behavior are not easy to understand in this area. An NHTSA survey has found that most drivers will take a call or send a text while driving, almost all of these same drivers claim they feel “unsafe” as passengers in cars where drivers are talking or receiving text messages.

Like Smoking

A New York Times report in December 2011 noted how initial efforts to control distracted driving seen as analogous to those to reduce drunk driving are now being seen as more analogous to smoking. This is because using cell phones and computers can be compulsive. According to one expert interviewed by the Times, the ring of a phone or the ping of a text becomes a promise of human connection which is like catnip for humans.

Sobering Facts

Some sobering facts published by the NTSB on distracted driving are:

Ø  Drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment.

Ø  Research has shown that drivers using cell phones are 4 times more likely to have a crash that will result in going to the hospital. The risk from texting is even higher with one estimate that texting creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving without being distracted.

Ø  Using a cell phone while driving whether hand-held or hands-free delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.

Ø  Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%.

Some of the activities which contribute to distracted driving are described by the NTSB as follows:

Texting

Using a cell or smart phone

Eating and drinking

Talking to passengers

Grooming

Reading, including maps

Using a navigation system

Watching a video

Adjusting a radio, CD or MP3 player

Laws

Currently, 35 states, the District of Columbia  and Guam ban text messaging for all drivers and 9 states and the District prohibit all drivers from using hand held cell phone while driving.

Good News

While the problem of distracted driving may seem intractable given people’s attitudes, it is encouraging that episodes of drinking and driving have gone down by 30% during the past five years according to CDC. Also, deaths from drunk drivers dropped 4.9% in 2010 compared to 2009 (10,228 vs 10,759). Also, highway deaths overall fell in 2010 to 32,885, the lowest level since 1949 despite an increase of 46 billion more miles driven during the year compared to 2009.

In a sign that attitudes may be changing, Consumer Reports in its March 2012 issue describes the results of a survey of 1,000 Americans which revealed that distracted drivers are the public’s greatest safety concern ahead of patient safety, auto safety, clean air and water, and the safety of drugs, toys, and food.