18 states and Washington DC have now passed laws prohibiting drivers of a moving vehicle to text while driving. Yet over 10% of all drivers still continue to text. Many of these drivers are under the age of 29. The University of Utah recently published a study (December 16, 2009) Text Messaging During Simulated Driving, which found that drivers who texting have a much greater chance for an vehicle incident (6 times) than those who use a hand-held cell phone.

Recently I have been speaking at regional and local safety conferences on the topic of driver distraction, You Can Drive Me To Distraction. During these presentations I ask the audience how many people either text or use a cell phone (hand-held or hands free) while they drive. When I ask them to be honest, more than 60% of the people raise their hands.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines distraction as:

Distraction is anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events.  To put it another way, a distraction is anything that takes your eyes off the road (visual distraction), your mind off the road (cognitive distraction), or your hands off the wheel (manual distraction).  So when you think about tasks that can be a driving distraction, you can see that they often fit into more than one category: eating is visual and manual, whereas using a navigation system is all three.

Both the National Safety Council and the NHTSA have become very active in awareness programs and getting laws passed which prohibit the used of any electronic device while driving a motor vehicle.  To make the point much clearer click on this link and watch this video (hint; it is a little hard to watch, be prepared).

So, what’s that message here?  Any time you lose focus on driving for only 2 seconds, your reaction time to avoid an incident is the same as if your blood alcohol level is .08 or the DUI limit.  We must stay alert and focused to stay alive and keep others from getting killed or injured.

MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISIONS ARE THE #1 CAUSE OF EMPLOYEE DEATH AND INJURY.

More people have died in 1 year from texting related incidents in the US, than all the service people who have died in the middle east conflict since 2003.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—While many believe summer is the most dangerous season on U.S. roads because motorists tend to drive faster, drink more alcohol and drive more often for leisure, a new report by the University of Michigan suggests otherwise.

Fatality crash rates are highest in the fall, with October at the top of the list (10.2 deaths per billion kilometers), according to a study in the current issue of the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

Using the fatality data and distance-driven data from the Department of Transportation, Michael Sivak of the U-M Transportation Research Institute calculated the fatality rate and per distance driven for each month from 1994 to 2006.

He found that October, November and December have the highest fatality rates and March the lowest (8.8 deaths per billion kilometers), followed by February and April. From March to October, rates increase each month and then decline from October to March, despite the winter weather.

“The risk of a fatality per distance driven in October is about 16 percent greater than the risk in March,” Sivak said. “Everything else being equal, inclement weather—snow and ice—-should increase the risk of driving. However, because inclement weather also leads to general reductions in speed, the net effect is not clear.”

Likewise, there are several factors more prevalent during summer that would suggest that the driving risk should be greater during those months, Sivak says.

“For example, leisure driving, which occurs more frequently on unfamiliar roads, at higher speeds, at night and under the influence of alcohol, is riskier than commuter driving,” he said. “Although hard data are not available, leisure driving is likely to be most frequent during summer months when school is out. In addition, consumption of beer shows a strong seasonal variation, peaking in summer months.”

So why are October, November and December more dangerous for motorists than other months of the year? One possible reason could be the duration of darkness, which increases in the fall and is longest in late December. But Sivak says there is no single cause.

“There are several known factors with major influences on the risk of driving that show strong seasonal variations,” he said. “However, the peaks and troughs of the seasonal variations of these factors do not fully match the pattern of the overall driving risk. Thus, the driving-risk pattern is likely a consequence of joint contributions of several factors.”

Since statistics prove more than 90 percent of all collisions are a direct result of driver error, and an increasingly large number of people choose to drive distracted, it shouldn’t be surprising that motorists consider unsafe driving a threat to themselves and others who use our roads and highways.
Many drivers frequently use cell phones for personal and business purposes, everyone from soccer moms to company CEOs. There is no question regarding the benefits of being in constant communication.
Realistically we all have to think about the times it’s just not proper to use your cell phone. Operating a motor vehicle is one of those times.  According to the results of a study by Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, talking on the cell phone while driving reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.
There is enough evidence from agencies such as AAA Traffic Safety Foundation, National Safety Council and the American College of Emergency Physicians that there should be a national ban on cell phone use and text messaging while behind the wheel.
There are only five states along with Washington, D.C., that ban hand-held cell phone use: California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Washington. Sixteen additional states and D.C. restrict cell phone use by drivers under the age of 18.
An important point to apply here is that the level and danger of the distraction is not lessened by the use of “hands-free.”  Most drivers are unaware of the liability issues related to distracted driving. Insurance companies routinely subpoena driver’s cell phone records when a client is involved in a crash with bodily injury.
Anything that allows you to drive your vehicle in an unsafe manner can result in a charge of careless driving. Remember the law requires us to maintain control of the vehicle at all times.  Let’s transfer that liability over to employers who encourage or allow cell phone use, especially in company vehicles. You better have some good insurance if you do so.

Recently the International Paper Company settled a lawsuit for a reported $5.2 million. The suit alleged that an IP employee was using her company-supplied cell phone when she rear-ended another vehicle. The other driver suffered such severe traumatic injuries she eventually had to have her arm amputated.
Experience indicates the importance of prohibiting cell phone usage while driving through the use of a written policy.  Employers should implement a strong policy forbidding phone calls by all employees while driving a vehicle on company business. It may limit use to hands free calling or completely ban cell phone usage while driving.  Supervisors, for example, will have to understand when the call goes to voice mail or why it might take awhile for the employee to check in.
 

On January 1, 2009, Illinois will become the 4th state to require 1st time DUI convicted drivers to get have a breath analyzer device installed in their car.  This device will require the driver to have a blood alcohol level of below 0.024 or their vehicle engine will not start.  Illinois had 1249 vehicle deaths in 2007 of which, a little over 40% or 508 deaths were attributed to DUI.

This will be one of the toughest DUI laws in the US.  Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) help get the bill sponsored and passed in 2007.  There will be a cost to rent, install and monitor the device, from the State of Illinois.  First time DUI convicted drivers will have to use the device for 5 months, anyone refusing a breath analyzer test and then convicted of a DUI will have to use the device for 11 months. 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-dui-lawdec29,0,1167021.story

Has this ever happened to you?  You are driving down the road when ALL OF A SUDDEN you realize you are crossing into another lane or driving off the road?  You wake up just in time to avoid a collision or incident.  Many drivers are too late.  Drowsy drivers are a major danger on the road.  More than 100,000 motor vehicle crashes each year are a result of drowsy driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates.

Because of their work schedules, shift-workers are at a significant risk for drowsy driving incidents.  Studies from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), indicate that about 25% or higher, reported having a traffic accident or close call in the last year.

Driving while fatigued is a problem for a number of reasons.   According to NSF, drowsiness has a number of physical side effects that can impair driving, including tunnel vision, shortened attention span and reduced reaction times.  Drowsy drivers can’t process information as quickly or as accurately as an alert one.  This makes it much more difficult for a drowsy driver to become aware of a potential accident and react to it.

Fact or Fiction

Many people have misconceptions about sleep, which NSF dispels:

Caffeine can overcome drowsiness while driving.  Only sleep can truly overcome drowsiness.  Caffeine may make you feel more alert, but the results are temporary.  People who take stimulants while severely sleep-deprived are likely to have “micro sleeps,” which are essentially four to five second naps.  A vehicle traveling at 55 mph can cover more than 100 yards in four to five seconds.

I’m a safe driver so it doesn’t matter if I am sleepy.
The only safe driver is an alert driver.  When fatigued, ever the BEST drivers become confused and use poor judgment.

I can’t take naps.
Despite the fact that many people insist they cannot nap, sleep-deprived people can usually nap if they give themselves the chance.  Even if you think you can’t nap, pull over and recline for about 15 minutes.  It is likely you will be able to fall asleep.  Always be sure you do so in a safe area and lock ALL your doors.

I can tell when I am going to fall asleep.
Most people believe they can control and predict when they are about to fall asleep, NOT TRUE.  A drowsy person can fall asleep without even being aware of it.  People are also unable to tell how long they have been asleep.  It only takes a few seconds of sleep to cause a major collision or incident.
When Drowsiness Strikes
Under no circumstances should you drive while drowsy.  Turning up the radio, rolling down the window, getting out of the care and running, or slapping yourself (I know you have done at least one of these) are not effective means of waking yourself up.  The ONLY remedy for drowsiness is sleep.

If you find yourself becoming sleep while behind the wheel, other signs include:
· Drifting in and out of your lane
· Driving over the rumble strips
You should pull over immediately.  YOU HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP!!!

Some options for getting home safely include:
· taking a nap on the side of the road
· calling someone to drive you home
· taking a cab or public transportation

Drowsy driving incidents most often occur when a driver is alone in the vehicle.  Carpooling provides someone who can alert a driver of danger and can take over behind the wheel if necessary.

You can also take measures to prevent drowsiness from happening.  The average person requires about seven (7) to nine (9) hours of sleep.  Try and stick to a regular sleep schedule where you are getting this amount of sleep.  Shift-workers may have more difficultly maintaining a regular sleep schedule.  If you are required to sleep in the daytime hours, be sure to keep your room as dark as possible.  You can wear a sleep mask.  Run a fan or use other constant noise to block outside sounds.

Good uninterrupted sleep is essential for safety on the job and on the road.

What do these numbers have in common?   41,059…..2.49 million…..230.6 billion?

Ok, your best guess. 

As a DDC-4 instructor I talk about these number in my classes.  The 41,059 are the number of fatalities in the US in 2007 from motor vehicle collisions (about 10 times the number of deaths in the whole Iraq war).  You might guess the next number.  The number of injured from motor vehicle collisions in 2007.  The third number represents the amount of insurance money paid out in 2007.  Finally, a statistic that is hard to print.  Speed is the #1 killer of people ages 1-33 is motor vehicle accidents and the #4 of people over 33.

Do these numbers open your eyes?  They do mine.  We are out there hurting and killing ourselves and others.  Yet this article will probably not change the driving habits of many or any people.  Here are a couple of other questions you might not know the answers to.

1. What is the number 1 cause of traffic collisions?
2. What is the number 1 cause of drive distraction?

Think you got it right?  You might have the first question correct, but I am guessing not the second. 

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