TALLAHASSEE – Keep your hands on the wheel, eyes on the road and mind on driving — that’s the message the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Florida Department of Transportation want motorists to remember this April during Distracted Driver Awareness Month.
Distracted driving crashes in Florida have increased 25 percent since 2012. Even though teens represent only five percent of licensed drivers, they were responsible for 12 percent of distracted driving crashes. Drivers aged 20-29 were responsible for 31 percent of crashes.
“If you are not 100 percent focused, then you’re not 100 percent driving,” said Col. David Brierton, director of the Florida Highway Patrol. “Troopers around the state will continue to educate motorists on the dangers of distracted driving for the safety of all who share our roadways.”
There are three main categories of distraction: visual (taking your eyes off the road), manual (taking your hands off the steering wheel), and cognitive (thinking about anything other than driving). Some of the most common types of distractions include:
• An object, person, or event outside of the vehicle that divert a driver’s attention away from the road
• Texting
• Reaching for a device such as a GPS
• Interacting with passengers
• Eating or drinking
• Unsecured pets
• Grooming
• Adjusting stereo or climate controls
• Lighting a cigarette
• Daydreaming
AAA report on teen drivers
The most comprehensive research ever conducted into crash videos of teen drivers has found significant evidence that distracted driving is likely much more serious a problem than previously known, according to information released March 25 by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
The unprecedented video analysis finds that distraction was a factor in nearly 6 out of 10 moderate-to-severe teen crashes, which is four times as many as official estimates based on police reports.
Researchers analyzed the six seconds leading up to a crash in nearly 1,700 videos of teen drivers taken from in-vehicle event recorders. The results showed that distraction was a factor in 58 percent of all crashes studied; including 89 percent of road-departure crashes and 76 percent of rear-end crashes. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration previously had estimated that distraction was a factor in only 14 percent of all teen driver crashes.
“Access to crash videos has allowed us to better understand the moments leading up to a vehicle impact in a way that was previously impossible,” said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “The in-depth analysis provides indisputable evidence that teen drivers are distracted in a much greater percentage of crashes than we previously realized.”
The most common forms of distraction leading up to a crash by a teen driver included:
• Interacting with one or more passengers: 15 percent of crashes
• Cell phone use: 12 percent of crashes
• Looking at something in the vehicle: 10 percent of crashes
• Looking at something outside the vehicle: 9 percent of crashes
• Singing/moving to music: 8 percent of crashes
• Grooming: 6 percent of crashes
• Reaching for an object: 6 percent of crashes
“This research confirms that passengers and cell phones are the two most prevalent distractions for teen drivers involved in crashes,” said Auto Club Group Traffic Safety Consultant Matt Nasworthy. “That is why it is so important for states to review their graduated driver licensing and distracted driving laws to ensure they provide as much protection as possible for teens.”
AAA recommends that state laws prohibit cell phone use by teen drivers and restrict passengers to one non-family member for the first six months of driving. Graduated driver licensing laws allow new drivers to gain practical experience in a relatively safe environment by restricting their exposure to risky situations. Thirty-three states have laws that prevent cell phone use for teens and 18 states have passenger restrictions meeting AAA’s recommendations.
Parents play a critical role in preventing distracted driving. AAA recommends that parents teach teens about the dangers of cell phone use and restrict passengers during the learning-to-drive process. AAA offers a comprehensive driver education program, where teens can learn specifically how using a cell phone affects driving abilities and increases their crash risk. For more information, visit TeenDriving.AAA.com.?
Teens have the highest crash rate of any group in the United States. About 963,000 drivers age 16-19 were involved in police-reported crashes in 2013, which is the most recent year of available data. These crashes resulted in 383,000 injuries and 2,865 deaths. The Foundation collaborated with researchers at the University of Iowa to conduct this study.
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