Tackling The Distracted Driving "Epidemic"
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s second annual distracted driving summit begins tomorrow, and the party’s getting started right: with the release of 2009’s distracted driving fatality numbers. 5,474 Americans died as a result of driver distraction last year, according to NHTSA data [ PDF here]. 448,000 “traffic injuries” were attributed to the distracted driving “epidemic,” an epithet LaHood has employed since his crusade against driver distraction began last year. Strangely though, distracted driving deaths remained flat as a percentage of overall traffic fatalities (16%) last year.
But, argues LaHood in an Orlando Sentinel op-ed, police often don’t report the role of distraction in traffic incidents, so the actual number could be higher. That’s an argument we’d expect from the guy hosting a database that is infamous for its inaccuracy, but we’re still struggling how a statistically flat phenomenon (in an environment of improving highway safety) qualifies as an “epidemic.” More importantly, we’re not sure that LaHood’s conference will have any more of an impact than last years. But hey, at least it’s better than scolding Snooki on Twitter. A cabinet Secretary can only do so much…
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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There are several things about texting that make it far worse than anything else. The VA Tech studies clearly show that if you take your eyes off the road for more than 2 seconds, your chances of getting into a crash go way up, and keep going up exponentially as a function of time. The combination of reading and typing that texting dictates means it's going to pull peoples' eyes away from the road for way more than 2 seconds.
The other thing about texting is that most people who use it as a major means of communicating can't control their urges even if they are driving. Texting while driving needs to be banned, on pain of very large fines.
Car companies should be prohibited from adding potentially distracting technologies at least until studies can be done to evaluate them. Perhaps the car companies could be hit up to fund the studies at places like Virginia Tech.
It should be noted that there is a huge difference between communicating by cell phone (by texting or voice) and talking with a passenger. In hairy traffic situations, passengers serve as backup, watching the road and pointing out hazards, and ceasing to converse if things get bad enough. Someone who is talking to you via cell phone while you are driving doesn't do that.
distracted driving is not an epidemic, drunken driving and lack of driver education and short yellow lights are the main threats to the safety of motorist.
This administration has overused the word "crisis", so LaHood had to settle for "epidemic".