U.S. Drivers Are Distracted 50% of the Time

The only thing he doesn't have going on is smoking a
cigarette too.

We're definitely a distracted nation but these numbers scare me. A new study out of Virginia Tech published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month says drivers are distracted more than 50 percent of the time.

Citylab reports that nearly 70 percent of the crashes the researchers analyzed for the study involved some type of observable distraction. The study's lead says this could because the younger population of drivers, particularly teens, are more prone to engaging in distracting activities while driving; particularly using cell phones.

For study, the Virginia Tech researchers, used 3,500 study participants who agreed to let researchers mount cameras, sensors, and radar inside their vehicles, tracking and filming the drivers everywhere they went for a three-year period.

What did they see? Mostly cell phones. Drivers were observed dialing a phone just 0.14 percent of the time, but still raised the odds of an accident by a factor of 12 compared to what the researchers call “model driving,” or driving while “alert, attentive, and sober.” Texting occurred 1.91 percent of the time, leading to a risk increase by a factor of six. Drivers talked on the phone 3.24 percent of the time, and chatting more than doubled the risk of an incident. Just reaching for a handheld cell phone increased the odds of an accident nearly five times.

Researchers also witnessed "driving while emotional;" aka being sad, crying or displaying "emotional agitations." This only happened about 0.2 percent of the time, but it increased the risk of an incident by nearly 1000 percent compared to model driving.

What distractions seemed a-okay? Applying makeup while driving didn’t appear to be as risk-averse as you would think. Eating and drinking (nonalcoholic beverages obviously) didn’t make much of a difference, either.

Drug and alcohol use was observed just 0.1 percent of the time, but it increased the risk of crash by a factor of 40.

Hundreds Pulled Over In Distracted Driving Crackdown

Hartford, Connecticut police are done messing around. They're holding a sting on distracted driving this week. And they're catching so many people talking and texting while driving that they wrote two hundred tickets in the first day and caused their own traffic backup with the lineup of people pulled over.

News 8 has the story. And one VERY animated reporter.

Teen Hits Patrol Car Head On While Texting

Without getting a search warrant and checking your phone, it's often hard for police to confirm someone was texting while driving. But it was pretty obvious an Idaho teen was doing just that when he slammed head-on into a deputy's patrol car.

KTVB TV has the story.

A Little of This, A Little of That

The head of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was in Spokane promoting expedited security screenings to those who don't want to wait through the usual security line. About half of Northwest drivers under 35 admit to texting while driving. Three Spokane-area residents are recognized by a national campaign and rewarded with free gas. And a food truck rally this Friday will close Wall Street between Riverside and Main avenues. The Spokesman-Review's "Getting There" article has a roundup of local transportation news.

New Survey Has Some Disapointing Results When It Comes To Distracted Driving

A new survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says has some disappointing results when it comes to using phones while driving. More than 40 percent of people between 19 and 39 years old said they text while driving, and more than half talk on the phone while behind the wheel.

In 2012, the number of roadway deaths linked to distracted driving was 3,328, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administratio.

The Columbian has more survey results.

Study Says Distracted Driving More Common Than Previously Thought

A study released just today by the University of Washington says more than 8 percent (only 8%?) of drivers in Washington are distracted by electronic devices, including many who are actively texting on the roadway.

Researchers compiled their numbers after observing 7,800 motorists at intersections in six counties. The study found that nearly half of drivers using electronic devices were observed texting.

KOZE-AM Radio has more details from the study.

New Study Says Text To Voice NOT Safer Than Typing Texts While Driving

Think you're being safe because you're using the voice-to-text option on your phone when behind the wheel? Guess what- new stats say dictating your texts is no safer than typing them out while driving.
A new study conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute is based on the performance of 43 research participants driving an actual vehicle on a closed course. Drivers first navigated the course without any use of cell phones. Each driver then traveled the course three more times performing a series of texting exercises – once using each of two voice-to-text applications and once texting manually. Researchers measured the time it took each driver to complete the tasks and how long it took for the drivers to respond to a light which came on at random intervals during the exercises.
Here are the results, from the Texas A&M website.

Some New Hondas To Come With Siri

Like Siri in your Iphone? Well you may have her in your car soon. Honda says it will install Apple's Siri voice-activated telematics assistant into several of its 2013 models, so you can keep your hands on the wheel while Siri does the calling, texting and navigating.

Automotive News has the story.

New Mothers Confess To Dangerous Driving

While they're otherwise protective of their children, a new survey finds that new mothers talk on the phone and text or check e-mail at an alarming rate while driving with their babies in the car. The data shows 78 percent(!) of mothers with children under age 2 acknowledge talking on the phone while driving with their babies and 26 percent say they text or check their e-mail. And that distracted driving doesn't even take into account how many times they say they have to turn around to deal with their baby in the back seat while driving.

So how do they come out when the number of crashes new moms have been in are compared to the general population of drivers? Not very good. AZCentral takes a look.

Do Texting While Driving Bans Increase Accidents?

Do bans on texting and driving actually increase accidents? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that 3 of every 4 states that have enacted a ban on texting while driving have seen crashes actually go up rather than down.

It's hard to say for sure why, but experts believe its a result of people trying to avoid getting caught. Folks trying to keep their phones out of view will often hold the phone much lower, below the wheel perhaps, in order to keep it out of view. That means the driver's eyes are looking down and away from the road. KSL.com Utah has the story.

Funny Public Service Announcement

This public service announcement about texting and driving is in French, but the humor, and message, carries through despite the language barrier.

Designated Texters Are (Allegedly) Next Big Thing

I've been the DD (Designated Driver) plenty of times before, but never the DT (Designated Texter). And I'm not sure they get free soda. But that's the new thing for young drivers apparently- a passenger in the car who's responsibility it is to read incoming texts to the driver then text back the driver's response. What do you thing? Too cheesey to catch on or an obvious solution to a simple problem?

He'll Never Live This One Down

Talk about ironic. The Idaho Statesman says a 22-year-old eastern Idaho driver was looking at a text message on his phone when he hit a sheriff deputy's parked patrol car. Police say the man was looking at a text message on his phone when he drove into the back of a patrol car parked on the side of the road.The sheriff's deputy was not in the patrol car at the time. The vehicle's lights were flashing to alert drivers to a fire in the median of the road. The driver was cited for inattentive driving. And will have to live with the harassing his buddies will give him for a very long time. Which is worse than the ticket.

Distracted Driving Lands Car Thief In Jail

Wow, talk about an overachiever. A Kennewick man crashed into a home because he was texting and eating at the same time- while driving a stolen truck.

The Spokesman-Review reports the driver lost control of the stolen truck and went into a ditch, drove through some logs and lawns and then hit the house.

He rain from the scene but was picked up not too much later. And if you were wondering what he was eating, it was a croissant.

Driving and Facebooking?

And another Facebook story (see below). At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Mercedes-Benz USA unveiled an in-dashboard service that enables the use of Facebook, Yelp, and Google behind the wheel.

Really?? Behind the wheel? Um, isn't that kind of distracting?
The DC Streets Blog says yes, and 'dislike.'

Blackberry Messaging Outage Credited With Drop In Dubai Traffic Collisions

Wow, here's an interesting story about the effects of texting and driving: a dramatic fall in traffic accidents in Dubai in October has been directly linked to a three-day disruption in BlackBerry services.

Collisions fell 20% from average rates on the days BlackBerry users were unable to use its messaging service. Email, Messenger and internet functions were unavailable to users in the Middle East, Africa and Europe after a crucial link in the BlackBerry network failed.

The National says there is usually a fatal accident every two days in Abu Dhabi, but during the outage there wasn't a single fatality.