6 Things to Know for Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Distracted Driving Awareness Month spans the month of April and will involve various public safety campaigns sponsored by federal and state transportation regulators. While these efforts are focused on educating the public about the dangers of distracted driving to, ideally, prevent it, here, we will do our part to support these campaigns by pointing out and discussing some important things to be aware of regarding distracted driving.

Understanding these distracted driving facts can help you be more mindful of how dangerous distracted driving is and, hopefully, inspire you to remain as focused as possible when getting behind the wheel.

If you are currently more concerned about financially and physically recovering from the aftermath of any motor vehicle accident, however, it’s time to contact the trusted Littleton car accident attorneys at Bahr & Kreidle. Our lawyers are ready to fight for you and help you obtain the compensation and justice you likely deserve.

Distracted Driving Facts and Statistics

1 – About 10 percent of all fatal accidents that occurred in the U.S. in 2013 were distracted driving collisions.

This is according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and it reflects the most recent data the Administration has fully analyzed. Putting this distracted driving statistic in other terms, this means that at least 3,154 people were killed in distracted driving collisions in 2013.

The NHTSA has also reported that, in 2013, distracted driving accidents:

• Represented about 18 percent of all injury collisions, hurting an estimated 424,000 Americans
• Comprised about 16 percent of all traffic accidents.

2 – Motorists between 15 and 19 years old are most likely to be distracted at the time of collisions.

While the above-noted distracted driving statistics may be shocking enough, what may be just as disturbing is the finding that the youngest and most inexperienced group of motorists on the roads is also the group that is most likely to be distracted prior to crashes.

In fact, as the NHTSA reports:

• About 10 percent of all of these drivers who were involved in deadly accidents were distracted immediately before the crash.
• In 2013, 244 teens between 15 and 19 years old were killed in distracted driving accidents.

3 – Distracted driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving.

In fact, what researchers have found is that:

• Distracted drivers have slower reaction times than motorists with blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.08 (the legal limit for intoxication in every U.S. state), according to a study conducted at the University of Utah.
• These reaction times can be delayed by as much as 15 seconds, which is plenty of time for driving conditions to change and accidents to happen, according to the NHTSA.
• Texting while driving, one of the most common forms of distracted driving, can cause the same impairments as motorists display after having consumed four (4) alcoholic beverages.

Given that distracted driving has yet to be widely recognized as being as big of a threat to public safety on the roads as drunk driving, campaigns like Distracted Driving Awareness Month are important to educating people and getting more drivers to take distracted driving more seriously.

4 – Hands-free devices are NOT safer or less distracting than hand-held devices.

This may be among the more surprising facts about distracted driving, as many have been operating under the assumption that, if they aren’t using their hands to hold cellphones, then having cellphone conversations is safe and not a “distraction.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as researchers have found that:

• Talking on hand-held or hands-free devices increases motorists’ risk of getting into traffic accidents by about four times.
• The reason that hands-free devices are not safer than hand-held devices is that the real distraction lies in having the conversation.
• With cellphone conversations, motorists can miss seeing up to half of all important driving cues in their environment due to a phenomenon known as inattention blindness.

5 – Cellphone conversations are NOT the same as having a conversation with another passenger in your vehicle.

This may be another surprising distracted driving fact, as, on the surface, it may seem like having a conversation with someone in your car versus someone on the phone is the same and that one wouldn’t be more dangerous than the other.

However, researchers at the University of Utah have found that, in fact, these two actions are quite different and that:

• Cellphone conversations when driving are far more risky and potentially dangerous than conversations with other passengers.
• When motorists have cellphone conversations, they become far less attentive to their driving environments, often missing seeing various critical driving cues.
• With conversations with others in the same vehicle, however, other passengers can remain alert to the driving conditions, pointing out potential risks to motorists (who may miss seeing them) and altering their speech patterns to correspond to changing driving conditions (so that, for instance, drivers can focus when driving conditions become more complicated/require more attention).

6 – Distracted driving accidents are 100 percent preventable.

This may be the single most important fact about distracted driving, as the bottom line is that distracted driving does NOT need to happen, nor does it need to put people’s safety and lives at risk. Underscoring this fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has pointed out some safety tips for motorists to keep in mind and help them do their part to stop distracted driving.

Here’s what the NHTSA recommends:

• Turn off your cellphone (and other devices) and place them out of reach before you start driving.
• Talk to your teens about the dangers of distracted driving.
• When you are a passenger, speak up and tell drivers to stay focused on the road if you notice them becoming distracted behind the wheel.

Littleton, Colorado Car Accident Lawyers at Bahr & Kreidle

Have you been hurt in a distracted driving accident – or in any type of motor vehicle accident? If so, you can count on the Littleton car accident attorneys at Bahr & Kreidle to help you seek justice and compensation.

To get more information about your potential case and find out more about how we can help you, let’s meet for a free, no obligations initial consultation. To set up a meeting, call us at (303) 794-7422 or email us using the form on this page.