Distracted Driving news demonstrates need for care

A couple of developments this week have me thinking about the dangers of distracted driving and the need for a second distracted driving summit.

First, earlier this week, the New York City Transportation Department released a study The New York Times said, "Offers unusual insights into the precarious life on the city’s streets, pinpointing where, when and why pedestrian accidents have most often occurred."

The report is filled with interesting data. But, for me the most pressing fact is that nearly 36% of crashes with pedestrian injuries or deaths involved driver inattention.

Also, this week I've read about a disturbing number of high-profile crashes killing drivers who were texting or talking on their cell phones.

Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Earlier this month, I blogged that crash risk doubles when drivers take their attention from the road for even two seconds. By now, it shouldn't be a surprise that texting and talking on cell phones while driving can have grave consequences.

Fortunately, DOT, state governments, safety advocates and others are trying to do something to stop this deadly behavior.

We're hosting our second Distracted Driving Summit on September 21. There, experts will talk about what we've done, what we've learned, and what we still need to do to help end this epidemic.

I"m pleased that we will again be offering a webcast of the summit and that our staff will be blogging and tweeting about it on StopDistraction as it happens. And, so everyone on Twitter can follow the conversation, I encourage you to add the hashtag #d2summit to your posts.

As the date approaches, please stay tuned to distraction.gov for summit updates.

Another step we're taking is co-sponsoring a Video Challenge with Seventeen Magazine and AAA. There's still plenty of time to submit a video, so if you're a young person with a camera, or if you know a young person with a camera, please visit www.seventeen.com/twosecond to learn more.

And, if you want to see the videos that have already been submitted and share them with your friends and family, please visit http://www.youtube.com/17twosecond.

Finally, I want to remind everyone that the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety has toolkits available for Drive Safely Work Week 2010. This year's theme is "Focus: Safe driving is serious business," and it resonates with a trend among American companies to become increasingly concerned about the use of electronic devices in company cars. These materials:

• Help prepare an organization for the launch of a new cell phone policy;
• Reinforce an existing policy; or
• Build awareness of the issues related to distracted driving and help develop strategies to minimize distractions.

Yes, the news this week reminds me that we have our work cut out for us in the fight to stop distracted driving. But, I am optimistic that we are up to the challenge.

Comments

[Barlington]

Good Job Ray!

[Jeff Sturgeon]

After reading this site and its links, I recruited two colleagues to join me in not using a cell phone while driving for one month. Before I found the two colleagues, Matt and Ryan, three colleagues turned me down. My intention is to model safe practices, wean myself off technology and save a life -- maybe mine.

Jeff Sturgeon
Roanoke, Va.

[HP Bryce]

The cartoon of Death is great and so true! LOL Death FTW!

[Amy McKendry]

I think you folks are doing an excellent job in raising the awareness of driving while distracted. There are just too many people out there that don't realize or care that they are endangering other peoples’ lives. People need to start taking this a lot more seriously. There should be very heavy fines for anyone caught doing it.
thank you

[Michael E. Bailey]

Good luck on the Second istracted Driving Summet. If it has the benefits the first one had, it will be a great success. The newspaper articles and tv news always remind us that the job of reducing and eliminating the distracted driving problem is not over yet and still more work is ahead. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Learning Toys]

While the popularity of mobile phones has grown enormously in the past two decades, it's still unclear how greatly cell phone calls and texting contribute to car crashes. What is clear is that talking on the phone and texting behind the wheel both lead to distraction, and driver inattention is the leading cause of car accidents

[air max]

yes,nice work! RAY

[Sunset Classics]

Should I be ashamed of laughing at that cartoon? It is a very serious issue but that cartoonist certainly gets your attention. One of the growing problems with technology and automotive technology in particular (like GPS screens, in car video etc...) is how do we use it safely while driving. Texting while driving is an obvious no no but what about when you take your eyes off the road for two seconds while you look at the in dash map?

[Joshua - TACFIT Commando]

The video challenge is a great idea. It's crazy when you stop and look at the actual numbers regarding traffic accidents and cell phone usage...

[Ray Lawson]

I don't think it will work. I used to drive dedicated in upstate NY. A state that has had a hands free law for years. I noticed that it was all but ignored. You may cut the amount of distracted driving down some but not much. What is needed is for the phones to only work hands free when it is going over a certain speed say 10mph. Above that speed disable the buttons. I have a couple of applications that don't allow typing when the device is moving so I know it can be done now. You have banned texting in commercial vehicles but I still notice a lot of updates on twitter. Laws against behavior won't work.

[Panic Away]

Most of the teenagers admit that talking on their cell phones behind the wheel, talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver's reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old.