Protecting Yourself from Distracted Driving

It happens more often than a think. A driver busy texting or talking on his phone suddenly looks

up, sees traffic stopped or a car merging into his lane, and swerves unexpectedly. Every day

more than 9 people are killed and over 1,060 people injured due to crashes involving a distracted

driver, according to the CDC. The National Traffic Safety Institute is working to protect you and

your loved ones from distracted drivers by helping teach you how to anticipate and avoid danger

from these irresponsible individuals.

Oddly, many people assume they can drive and text or chat on their smartphone or even surf the

internet while driving. We have become so comfortable with multi-tasking that we forget the

value of focusing on one task, especially when driving. But if someone tells you they’re capable

of driving and using their phone, be wary. Consider these common excuses for distracted

driving:

“It’s not that big a problem.”

In 2011, 1.3 million car crashes in the United States involved someone on a cell phone. Almost

one in four accidents had a cell phone as a contributing factor to the accident. Anyone who tells

you distracted driving is not a problem is misinformed.

“It will only take a second.”

The minimum amount of time it takes to send a text is five seconds. When a person is driving at

55 mph, this means they will travel the entire length of a football field while not looking at the

road. Meanwhile, a driver is 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident merely by

answering the phone, talking on the phone or dialing a number.

“I have to call/text/talk right now!”

Young drivers are the most likely to call or text while driving, often using the excuse that they

cannot wait to make the call. In fact, one-third of young drivers say they have texted while

driving and more than half say they talk on the phone while driving. In research studies, 55% of

teen drivers say it is “easy” to text while driving. Those same studies show teens spend more

than 10% of their driving time outside their own lane when texting and driving.

“It’s only a problem for teen drivers.”

The reality is that the reason many young drivers think they can text or call while driving is

because they have seen their parents and other adults doing it. More than one quarter of adults

have sent or received text messages while driving and almost half of young drivers report seeing

their parents talk on the phone while driving.

“I can do it safely by…”

Some people seem to think there are safe ways to text and drive. They hold the phone close to

the windshield, presuming they can see past the phone to the road around them. They say they

only text at stop lights or stop signs, or that they just read their messages because sending them is

the dangerous part. The reality is that any type of texting or talking on the phone while driving

can have disastrous consequences.

Bio: The National Traffic Safety Institute is committed to helping drivers learn to be safer in

their vehicles. We offer research proven defensive driving classes and use behavior modification

to teach people to be safer while driving.

Summary: Distracted driving – whether texting, talking on the phone, eating, or talking with

other people in the car – is considered as dangerous an act as drinking and driving. It results in a

large number of fatalities every year.