The debate over distracted driving too often bogs down in statistics, politics and theory. Here is a dose of reality, taken from U.S. and Canadian police reports made over the past 12 months: A funeral was held this week for a teenager who died in a New Brunswick texting-and-driving accident. He was sending a text message when he lost control of his car and crashed into a rock wall. ... A 17-year-old girl died after she drove into a ditch and rolled her car because she was distracted while sending a text message, Iowa investigators say. ... An Arden, N.C., teenager killed in a car crash was … [Read more...]
Archives for 2010
Distracted pet owners warned of risks
August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The safety hazards of unrestrained pets in motor vehicles were highlighted this week as a AAA study suggested that only 17 percent of dog owners restrain their animals in vehicles. Researchers warned of possible roadway "devastation" as a result. One in five of the dog owners surveyed said that while driving they allowed pets to sit in their laps. The AAA survey on pets said almost 60 percent of drivers who transport their dogs engaged in other distracted driving behaviors at the same time. In a bizarre coincidence, an L.A. plastic surgeon died in Malibu not long after Tweeting and texting … [Read more...]
NY fatalities pinned on distracted driving
August 18, 2010 by 1 Comment
New York City's study of its severe/fatal pedestrian accidents points to distracted driving as public enemy No. 1. "The most common reason listed for a crash was driver inattention, a factor in 36% of pedestrian (killed or seriously injured) crashes," the report by NYC transportation planners found. The distracted driving accidents proved to be more than twice as deadly as those with other causes. The study looked at more than 7,000 crashes in the city between 2002 and 2006. In the four years since that time, "electronic distracted driving has become more pressing as cellphones, computers … [Read more...]
California plan to double fines is dead
August 16, 2010 by 2 Comments
State Sen. Joe Simitian's bid to increase the effectiveness of California's distracted driving laws has failed, at least for 2010. Senate Bill 1475 would have would more than doubled fines on the trio of distracted driving laws that the senator pushed through in recent years. The bill also would have applied the laws against text messaging and use of handheld cell phones to California's bicyclists. "The deadline for bills to pass the Appropriations Committee was Aug. 13, and since the cell phone bill did not pass the committee by the deadline, it died there," said Phil Yost of Simitian's … [Read more...]
9 in 10 teenage drivers distracted? LOL
August 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment
This week's alarming numbers about nine in 10 teenage drivers engaging in distracted behaviors deserve a closer look. The widely publicized survey, done for Seventeen magazine and AAA, talked to 2,000 drivers between the ages of 16 and 19. 86 percent of those teens said they engaged in distracted driving at some point. Pretty scary ... but let's take a look at what the survey defined as distracted driving: The activity drawing the most affirmative responses from the teens (73 percent) was adjusting a radio/CD or MP3 player -- an action they have in common with almost every driver on U.S. … [Read more...]
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