Distracted driving
Distracted driving is a significant safety concern in the United States, contributing to a high number of automobile accidents. It involves any activity that diverts attention from driving, such as eating, conversing with passengers, or using a cell phone. The rise of cell phone usage, particularly for texting, has heightened the risks associated with distracted driving, prompting comparisons between texting while driving and driving under the influence of alcohol in terms of danger levels. In 2012, distracted driving resulted in over 3,300 fatalities and hundreds of thousands of injuries, with a notable number attributed to cell phone use.
In response, many states have enacted laws to restrict cell phone usage while driving, with texting bans established in numerous states since 2007. However, the effectiveness of these measures remains debated, with some experts questioning the accuracy of accident statistics linked to cell phone use. Despite the legal restrictions, a significant portion of drivers still report using their phones while driving, indicating that awareness and education on the risks may still be necessary. The discussion around distracted driving encompasses diverse opinions on legislation, driver behavior, and the role of technology in ensuring road safety.
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Distracted driving
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of automobile accidents in the United States today. Any number of factors can divert a driver’s focus from the road, including eating, drinking, reading, engaging with passengers, and looking at people, objects, or events on the periphery of the road. However, the greatest concern pertaining to distracted driving is the use of cellular phones. This phenomenon emerged in the late 1990s and has increased in magnitude as cell phones have become ubiquitous for both phone calls and texting—two practices that routinely distract some drivers. Some experts now consider “driving while texting” to be as dangerous and potentially fatal as driving under the influence of alcohol. This phenomenon has prompted lawmakers across the nation to propose legislation to eliminate or limit cell phone use while driving.
Overview
In 2012, 3,328 people in the United States died as a result of distracted driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Of this total, 415 deaths were attributed to the use of cell phones. An additional estimated 421,000 people were injured in automobile accidents that stemmed from distracted driving, with approximately 28,000 of those injuries occurring in crashes attributed to cell phone use. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimated that at least 26 percent of all automobile accidents in the United States in 2012, or nearly 1.5 million total, were the result of drivers using cell phones to talk or text. The NSC has publicly called for legislation banning all cell phone usage while driving.
While these statistics are alarming, some dispute their accuracy. Jonathan Adkins, the executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, has asserted that 10 percent of all automobile accidents nationwide are caused by distraction, and cell phone usage accounts for merely 1.2 percent of accidents. Conversely, the NSC has argued that due to the difficulty of collecting reliable data, the number of automobile accidents involving cell phones may in fact be significantly underreported.
Despite disagreement over the statistics, several legislative attempts to crack down on cell phone usage emerged in the 2000s. In 2007, Washington became the first state to ban drivers from texting; since then, forty-four other states have followed suit, as have Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands. As of 2014, fourteen states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia) as well as DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands had made it illegal for drivers to talk on handheld phones. In addition, handheld phone use has been banned in Arkansas for drivers under twenty years of age, in Louisiana and Oklahoma for any learner or intermediate driver regardless of age, and in New Mexico for drivers in state vehicles.
In May 2013, a bill that would require drivers to give their cell phone to police if they were responsible for an automobile accident was introduced in the New Jersey state legislature. The purpose of this bill was to enable law enforcement officers to discern if the accident was caused while the driver was using his or her phone. The bill raised questions as to whether it would violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, and ultimately failed to pass.
Critics of such legislation contend that laws banning cell phones while driving are ineffective and have not led to a reduction in the number of phone-related accidents or the number of people using their phones behind the wheel. A report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed in November 2013 that 67.3 percent of people surveyed admitted to having used their phones while driving in the past thirty days. In addition, 34.7 percent admitted to having read e-mails or text messages while driving, and 25.8 percent admitted to having composed or sent such messages.
The AAA Foundation report also found that nearly 70 percent of licensed drivers believed talking on a hands-free device while driving was "somewhat safer" or "much safer" than using a handheld cell phone, even though studies have found no evidence that hands-free devices actually reduce driver distraction, according to the National Safety Council's 2012 white paper on the topic. While hands-free devices reduce the need for the driver to look away from the road or remove one or both hands from the steering wheel in order to carry on a conversation, such risks are negligible compared to the cognitive distraction caused by engaging in the conversation to begin with.
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