Category Archives: Studies

One Year Anniversary of Cell Phone Ban in Manitoba

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Although a ban in Manitoba has been in place for one year now, Manitobans are still talking and texting behind the wheel of a car. A CAA Manitoba survey states that 99.4 percent of the respondents had still seen motorists talking or texting behind the wheel and 30 percent admit to talking on their phone while driving.

The survey also shows that 68 percent of all respondents believe violators will not be caught and ticketed by police. Liz Peters, CAA Manitoba’s Public and Government Affairs Manager, admits that the enforcement is hard because police and RCMP have to be sure the driver is first violating the law to pull them over. She does say that 2,600 tickets have been issued in the City of Winnipeg, and also understands that the RCMP has also been active in rural areas. Peters believes compliance from citizens will be achieved after more offenders have been caught.

58 percent of all respondents believed demerit points should also be added to a $200 fine.
The survey interviewed 11,000 Manitobans. 48 percent owned a Bluetooth, but 38 percent use it “only on occasion”.

Peters feels that the study results show the opportunity to advance public awareness. She believes that people know about the law, but don’t know how dangerous talking or texting on a cell phone is while operating a vehicle. She notes that you are 23 times more likely to get in an accident while texting behind the wheel of a car.

Overall, Peters does feel that the law is effective but will take time to sink in with the public.

Respondents from the survey show that 49 percent say they believe the ban has made our roads safer.

Pilot Programs Prove Effective With Texting/Talking While Driving

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NHTSA’s results prove that texting and talking on cell phones while driving have reduced by one third in Syracuse and Hartford due to their new pilot programs.

The government has begun to enforce stricter laws with the use of cell phones and driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has supported two pilot programs from April 2010 to April 2011 in Syracuse, New York and Hartford, Connecticut, which has a new campaign called “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other,” similar to the successful “Click it or Ticket” or drunk driving campaigns.

The NHTSA provided $200,000 for each of two pilot programs in each state, while the state was also supported with an additional $100,000. The campaigns use law enforcement crack down, insurance companies, and state officials to provide public seminars and newer laws to help keep citizens aware of the dangers of texting and driving. The year-long program was proven to be very effective.

The results show that each state had reduced their cell phone usage while behind the wheel by at least one-third. Syracuse declined about one-third, while Hartford had a 57 percent drop in handheld cell phone usage and a 72 percent drop in texting.

Researchers looked at Hartford and Syracuse before the programs began and found that Hartford had double the amount of drivers using cell phones then Syracuse. Texting while driving fell from 2.8 to 1.9 percent in Syracuse while Hartford had a drop from 3.9 to 1.1 percent.

“These findings show that strong laws, combined with high visible police enforcement, can significantly reduce dangerous texting and cell phone use behind the wheel,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. “Based on these results, it is crystal clear that those who try to minimize this dangerous behavior are making a serious error in judgement, especially when a half a million people are injured and thousands more are killed in distracted driving accidents.”

Smartphones Tied to a Quarter of All Car Crashes

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Cell phones and smart phones are continuing to threaten American drivers each day as motorists continue to text and talk on the phone. The Governors Highway Safety Association conducted a study overlooking 350 scientific documents on the subject and came to the conclusion that drivers are distracted while driving up to half of the time on the road.

While driving and using a cell phone raises risks and dangers of causing accidents, texting and driving is proven to be even riskier than making a phone call while driving. The GHSA has estimated that 15 to 25 percent of all crashes involving fatalities are from driving distractions.

“Despite all that has been written about driver distraction, there is still a lot that we do not know,” said GHSA executive director Barbara Harsh. “Clearly, more studies need to be done addressing both the scope of the problem and how to effectively address it.”

The GHSA would like to see every state improve all efforts to curb distracted driving, recommending that all states ban texting and driving and cell phone use from novice drivers entirely. It also says states should do a more effective job in enforcing laws already out.

New Law Enforcment Reduces Distracted Driving

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Ray LaHood, Secretary for the Department of Transportation, says new strong laws and “highly visible” police enforcement have cut down texting and talking on cell phones while driving by a miraculous number in two cities.

New projects which have been federally funded have measured the increased effects of new law enforcement and public education seminars and campaigns in Syracuse, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut.

“These findings show that strong laws, combined with highly visible police enforcement, can significantly reduce dangerous texting and cellphone use behind the wheel,” says LaHood in a statement. “Based on these results, it is crystal clear that those who try to minimize this dangerous behavior are making a serious error in judgment, especially when half a million people are injured and thousands more are killed in distracted driving accidents.”

Each pilot program conducted in both the states was supported by $200,000 in federal funds and $100,000 in state funds. The state labeled the pilot programs as “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other,” which was the main media campaign theme based off the successful national seat belt campaign, “Click it or Ticket”.

Syracuse police have issued precisely 9,587 citations during four periods over the past year for drivers talking or texting on their cellphones while driving. Hartford issued 9,658 tickets during the same period for illegal phone use.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration observed the usage of cellphones while driving before and after the new law enforcement crackdown in the two cities which alsooffered public awareness surveys at local DMV’s.

The department stated that both talking on cellphones and texting on cellphones behind an operating vehicle in Syracuse had decline by a third.

Hartford produced even more dramatic results showing a drop of 57 percent, nearly three-quarters, in the usage of talking and texting on cellphones while driving.

The department now says that NHTSA plans to test the same three-part formula, consisting of tough laws, strong enforcement, and public awareness, at now an unidentified statewide level.

A statement from the department says nearly 5,500 fatalities and a half-million injuries were a result from a distracted driver in 2009. Distracted driving traffic fatalities in 2009 account for up to 16 percent of all traffic accidents.

Thirty-four states, including the District of Columbia and Guam, currently have enacted texting-while-driving bangs, while nine states, including the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, have banned all handheld cellphone use together while driving.

Study Shows One-Fourth of Accidents from Texting and Driving

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The Governors Highway Safety Association last week released fresh new research which shows the results of distracted driving across the county. The study proves that talking and texting on cell phones while driving are accountable for almost 25 percent of all car accidents in the United States.

The information was collected from a study called “Distracted Driving: What Research Shows and What States Can Do” which state officials read over 350 documents published between the years 2000 and 2011.
The report not only defines what distracted driving actually is, but also includes discussions on how distractions can lead to fatal car accidents and adds new ways and methods of refining the law to combat the dangers of distracted driving.

“Despite all that has been written about driver distraction, there is still a lot that we do not know,” GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha said, who watched the report develop. “Much of the research is incomplete or contradictory. Clearly, more studies need to be done addressing both the scope of the problem and how to effectively address it.”

The study concluded that one quarter of all crashes are caused from distracted driving, and found that drivers are frequently distracted about half the time on the road. It also points out that text messaging while driving is one of the easiest and dangerous ways to get into a car crash, with talking on cell phones while driving is next in line.

The authors of the study kindly suggest that state government agencies take a variety of steps, including leveraging low-cost edge and centerline rumble strips which alert motorists when they begin to move outside their driving lane, implementing distracted driving laws and programs, monitoring the usage of cell phones while driving with new laws being enacted, and evaluating other laws and programs which could benefit the citizens and government of the U.S.

One in Five Crashes in New York Due to Distracted Driving

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In the state of New York, a new recent national campaign/study in Syracuse suggests one in five crashes is due to distracted driving.

The U.S. Department of Transportation picked up New York as one of two cities in the country to scope out distracted driving in April of 2010. This is called the DOT’s Distracted Driving Enforcement Project which includes a combination of public seminars, law enforcement crackdown, police efforts, and public awareness including speakers from insurance companies and statistics. This was a year-long project was labeled as, “Phone in one hand. Ticket in the other”, which proved that cell phone and texting usage while driving had dropped by 32 percent in Syracuse.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Barbara J. Fiala, commissioner of Department of Motor Vehicles, publically announced the results from the campaign with law enforcement officials, similar to the national “Click it or Ticket,” campaign which was used to get individuals to wear their seatbelts in the car.

“The Distracted Driving Enforcement Project was an important step in capturing the public’s attention and communicating the message that talking on a cell phone or texting while driving will not be tolerated. We are pleased to have collaborated with the many dedicated partners that helped to make this unique initiative a success,” Chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee and Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Barbara J. Fiala said.

Over the course of this year-long project, more than $9,500 in tickets was issued.