Distracted Driving Awareness Month Sends Message: 'U Drive. U Text. U Pay.'
Mar20
Posted by The Law Firm of Pajcic & Pajcic in Personal Injury
With April 2015 designated as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) hopes to raise awareness about the hazards of distracted driving and get the message out with this slogan: “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”
This will be the agency’s second national enforcement campaign on distracted driving, which is expected to be made highly visible through television, radio, digital advertising and various social media outlets. Although the campaign message is targeted toward men and women between the ages of 18 and 34, the message for everyone is, “If you’re texting, you’re not driving.”
Types of Distracted Driving
Whenever a driver is busy with activities that take the hands off the wheel, eyes off the road or attention off the task of driving, that driver is distracted. According to the official U.S. government website for distracted driving and other sources, the most common types of driver distractions are:
Texting and updating social media.
Using cell phones and other handheld devices.
Eating and drinking.
Talking with passengers.
Grooming, such as brushing hair, putting on makeup and shaving.
Reading maps, books and other materials.
Using a GPS navigation system.
Operating in-vehicle electronics.
Watching videos.
Adjusting the radio, heater and air conditioning.
Tending to kids and pets.
Drowsy driving.
Roadside hazards and accidents.
Reaching for fallen objects.
Daydreaming.
Hazards and Risks of Distracted Driving
When a driver’s visual, manual or cognitive attention is pulled off the road ahead, there is a significantly increased risk of a collision. In-vehicle actions that combine all three distractions – such as with texting and driving – are the most dangerous of all. It is estimated that texting while driving increases the risk of a collision 23 times.
Distracted drivers who cause collisions will likely face fines, insurance claims or lawsuits stemming from their recklessness. In worst-case scenarios, the ultimate price is loss of life – often the death of a passenger in their own vehicle or an innocent person who was sharing the road.
Despite the obvious risks, some people believe that it takes only a small amount of time to read or send a text message, and doing so poses minimal risk. What these people may not realize is that when they read or send a text message while driving, their eyes will be off the road for an average of five seconds. At 55 mph, it’s the same as traveling the length of a football field while blindfolded.
Distracted Driving Facts & Figures
Statistics show approximately 1 in 4 collisions involves some type of cell phone use (texting, talking, emailing or similar action). A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study revealed that 69 percent of U.S. drivers between the ages of 18 and 64 admitted to talking on their cell phones while driving, while 31 percent stated they had read or sent at least one text message or email while driving in the 30 days prior to the survey. Forty percent of American teens report having been in a vehicle with a driver who “used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger,” according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Younger drivers and those with less driving experience are at a much higher risk of being involved in a fatal or serious distracted driving accident. In fact, the fatal crash rate per miles driven among teenage drivers is almost three times the rate for drivers over the age of 20.
In total, 3,328 people lost their lives in distracted driving accidents in a single recent year, and another 421,000 sustained injuries, which clearly shows that distracted driving continues to be an issue of concern for public health.
With April 2015 designated as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) hopes to raise awareness about the hazards of distracted driving and get the message out with this slogan: “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”
This will be the agency’s second national enforcement campaign on distracted driving, which is expected to be made highly visible through television, radio, digital advertising and various social media outlets. Although the campaign message is targeted toward men and women between the ages of 18 and 34, the message for everyone is, “If you’re texting, you’re not driving.”
Types of Distracted Driving
Whenever a driver is busy with activities that take the hands off the wheel, eyes off the road or attention off the task of driving, that driver is distracted. According to the official U.S. government website for distracted driving and other sources, the most common types of driver distractions are:
Hazards and Risks of Distracted Driving
When a driver’s visual, manual or cognitive attention is pulled off the road ahead, there is a significantly increased risk of a collision. In-vehicle actions that combine all three distractions – such as with texting and driving – are the most dangerous of all. It is estimated that texting while driving increases the risk of a collision 23 times.
Distracted drivers who cause collisions will likely face fines, insurance claims or lawsuits stemming from their recklessness. In worst-case scenarios, the ultimate price is loss of life – often the death of a passenger in their own vehicle or an innocent person who was sharing the road.
Despite the obvious risks, some people believe that it takes only a small amount of time to read or send a text message, and doing so poses minimal risk. What these people may not realize is that when they read or send a text message while driving, their eyes will be off the road for an average of five seconds. At 55 mph, it’s the same as traveling the length of a football field while blindfolded.
Distracted Driving Facts & Figures
Statistics show approximately 1 in 4 collisions involves some type of cell phone use (texting, talking, emailing or similar action). A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study revealed that 69 percent of U.S. drivers between the ages of 18 and 64 admitted to talking on their cell phones while driving, while 31 percent stated they had read or sent at least one text message or email while driving in the 30 days prior to the survey. Forty percent of American teens report having been in a vehicle with a driver who “used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger,” according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Younger drivers and those with less driving experience are at a much higher risk of being involved in a fatal or serious distracted driving accident. In fact, the fatal crash rate per miles driven among teenage drivers is almost three times the rate for drivers over the age of 20.
In total, 3,328 people lost their lives in distracted driving accidents in a single recent year, and another 421,000 sustained injuries, which clearly shows that distracted driving continues to be an issue of concern for public health.
Sources: