I’m not sure what else I can say.
Almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes happen within three seconds of some form of driver distraction, according to the report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
The two research groups monitored the behavior of 241 drivers in 100 vehicles for more than a year. During the 2 million miles of the study, the drivers were involved in 82 crashes and 761 near-crashes.
Reaching for a moving object multiplied the risk of a crash or near-crash by nine times, according to the study. Reading, applying makeup, or dialing a handheld device tripled the risk.
“All of these activities are much more dangerous than we thought before,” Dr. Charlie Klauer, a senior research associate at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
“But also we’re very concerned about the fact that not only are we drinking our coffee and we’re disciplining our children and we’re eating sandwiches in the car, but the proliferation of technologies in the vehicle have just exacerbated the amount of time that drivers are distracted,” she said.
Using cell phones was the most common distraction for drivers, the study found.
And while talking on a cell phone was less risky than dialing, it was a factor in almost as many crashes because it was done far more often, the researchers said.
Lono | 21-Apr-06 at 2:03 pm | Permalink
I absolutely suck at driving while talking on the phone – and thus all but refuse to do it.
It seems to me the worst problems occur when the (already distracted) driver tries to take a turn at a busy intersection and only has one hand free – a truly scary situation.
I have also noticed a lot more “emotional” driving as people either drive way too cautious or overly excited when talking on the cell phone.
I am, however, somewhat of a hypocrite because I will absolutely be putting internet in my car as soon as I can reasonably afford to do so.