Zero Tolerance for Distracted Driving

Pediatric emergency physician Dr. Charles Nozicka in the Trauma Center at Advocate Condell Medical Center has treated many victims in car crashes as a result from distracted drivers.

He calls it heartbreaking to see the devastating results, especially with teens and children. Summer now poses an even deeper threat to all drivers from the roads being so crowded.

“As an emergency physician and father of four, the issue of distracted driving has been a key component of my professional and parenting practice,” said Nozicka. “Life does not supply our teen drivers with a ‘reset button.’ Studies have shown that distracted driving is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation says 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways in 2009, and about 448,000 were injured from distracted driving.

The DOT also states that the main proportion of distracted drivers was those under age 20. Apparently, 16 percent of all drivers who were younger than age 20 were involved in fatal crashes and have been distracted while driving.

The agency states that there are three main types of driving distractions, in which you first take your eyes off the road, then your hands, and then your mind. Texting combines all three making it a dangerous thing to do.

“We must adopt a no tolerance attitude on this issue,” said Nozicka “We have to pay attention to the task at hand. Put the cell phone down. Stop texting and driving. One accident can change a life forever.”

Nozicka says that a statewide campaign is beginning which will raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

“I urge all drivers and parents of drivers to visit the site to learn they can help raise awareness,” Nozicka said.

New Law Enforcment Reduces Distracted Driving

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

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

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.