Each day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,153 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver. Distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes a person’s focus away from driving safely.
Distracted driving can include anything from texting to eating. Even a global positioning system can be a distraction.
There are three main types of distraction while driving. Visual: taking your eyes off the road; Manual: taking your hands off the wheel; and Cognitive: taking your mind off of driving. While any of these distractions can be hazardous, texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction. According to the CDC, 69 percent of drivers in the United States ages 18-64 reported that they had talked on their cell phone while driving within the 30 days before they were surveyed.
Texting and driving is an epidemic. The minimum amount of time your attention is taken away from the road is five seconds. If you are traveling at 55 mph, that would be like driving the length of a football field without looking up. With the longest Eyes-Off-The-Road time of all distractions, text messaging makes a car crash 23 times more likely.
With some state laws focusing on handheld bans and carmakers putting hands-free technology in vehicles, it’s no wonder people are confused. Ten states plus D.C. prohibit drivers from using handheld devices, 32 states including D.C. prohibit novice drivers from cell phone use and thirty-nine states, including D.C. prohibit all drivers from text messaging.
Even with these laws in place, people still continue to text and drive. There’s a broad range of reason why people do it. CBS News says 43 percent of the texting drivers said they want to “stay connected” to friends, family, and work. Nearly a third did it out of habit.
People should avoid using their phone while driving, but this might not be realistic. The best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses. The New York Times has even created a simulation for people to gauge their ability to text and drive to help with this dilemma. Apps, public education and laws that ban texting and driving, will all help change people’s behavior, just as anti-drunken-driving laws and public education campaigns have reduced drunken driving over the past few decades.
