Distracted driving continues to increase in the U.S. -- despite new laws, widespread safety education and saturation media coverage -- several new reports suggest. "Most Americans believe this problem is becoming worse," said Peter Kissinger, president of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which surveyed almost 4,000 motorists for its Traffic Safety Culture Index. Researchers in California report that electronic distracted driving doubled in the state from 2011 to 2012, citing a "substantial and dramatic" increase in use of handheld electronics. Smartphone sales grew about 45 … [Read more...]
Despite the danger, we’re still talking
November 4, 2011 by 1 Comment
U.S. drivers recognize talking & texting as dangerous activities, but many continue to drive distracted anyway -- even in high-risk traffic situations. Nothing new there, but several recent surveys shed more light on the problem. Results of five recent surveys regarding cell phone and texting use are consistent with attitudinal studies conducted over the past 10 years. The latest numbers strongly suggest that widespread distracted driving educational efforts still have a lot of work left to do. A Roper poll of U.S. adults shows, in fact, that the higher the overall education level, the more … [Read more...]
Distracted parents driving teens to texting
May 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Teenagers tend to follow their parents' lead when it comes to driving ... and texting? NPR's "Morning Edition" just did a segment on teens, texting and distracted driving, citing anecdotal evidence that youth who see their parents engaged in dangerous behaviors while behind the wheel see that as a green light to do the same. One teen told NPR: "If a parent is always on their cell phone, the teen's like, oh, it's fine. My parents do it all the time. And if their parents haven't crashed, then it's kind of like, okay. It's not going to happen." Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Research Center's … [Read more...]
NSC looks inside ‘distracted brain’
March 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Drivers talking on cell phones often enter a state of "inattention blindness" in which they fail to see up to 50 percent of what's ahead of them, according to a new report from the National Safety Council. The NSC once again makes the case against driving and using cell phones -- including those with hands-free devices -- this time backed by about 30 research studies. The NSC estimates that 25 percent of the U.S. crashes in 2008 involved cell phone use. "Driver distractions have joined alcohol and speeding as leading factors in fatal and serious injury crashes," the NSC said. The white … [Read more...]
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