How many times has this happened to you? You're driving on a busy street and your phone rings. You look down for a brief second to pick it up and you realize it is a text message. You remove one hand from the wheel and commence typing your reply message while steering the vehicle with your other hand. You're barely paying attention to what is happening on the road because you are familiar with the area and you are a "professional multitasker." You believe you can text, talk, drive, and DJ seamlessly and effortlessly. You are still accident free and no one is getting hurt by it right? WRONG! Science shows your brain just cannot keep up when you are distracted while driving. In fact, studies have found that talking on a cell phone quadruples your risk of an accident.
Consider this story profiled on Oprah yesterday:
19-year-old Reggie Shaw was texting on the way to a mandatory drug and alcohol screening. Shaw crossed the center line and clipped the vehicle driven by Jim Furfaro who was driving to work with his friend Keith O'Dell. Furfaro's vehicle ended up in the oncoming traffic line and was broadsided by the vehicle behind the 19-year-old, and he was killed instantly, along with Keith. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system, but cell phone records confirmed Reggie had been texting from the time he got into his car up until the moment of the crash. Reggie was sentenced to 30 days in jail, community service and to honor a unique request from Jackie—to watch a video of her husband's funeral. "I just wanted him to know who he killed," she says. "That was a way for him to get to know one of the men."Before the accident, Reggie says he texted "pretty close to 100 percent of the time" while driving. "I just never thought about it," he says. "Growing up, going to high school, going to driver's ed, it was never taught to me how dangerous it was."
Reggie says he's haunted by what he's done. "This affects my life every day. It's something that I can never really forgive myself for. It was a poor choice that I made," he says. "I have trouble sleeping at night. You drive down the road, you see accidents on the side of the road, and instantly that's the first thing that I think of. It's hard every day. It never gets easier."
What a non distracted driver sees:
What a distracted driver sees:
Can you spot the differences? What you do not see could be a small child, or a jogger or a dog.
Bottom line: Someone who's drunk at a 0.08 blood alcohol level has a four-time crash increase which means talking on a cell phone is about the same as driving drunk. University of Utah researcher David Strayer, who has been studying distracted driving habits for 10 years, proclaims "When you're text messaging, the crash risk goes up to eight times." Most of the time we become distracted because we think we are better than average drivers and thus our driving ability is not impaired when we multitask.
Oprah calls it "America's new deadly" obsession, texting, emailing and calling while driving
Still not convinced? Check out these brief stories:
A train conductor wasn't paying attention while receiving 40 text messages. The train collided head-on with a freight train, injuring 135 people, killing the conductor and 24 other people.
A truck driver while texting hit a school bus carrying 21 students while. Twenty students escaped, but 13-year-old Margay Schee was killed.
Nearly 500,000 people are injured and 6,000 are killed each year because drivers are talking, texting and e-mailing behind the wheel.
If these stories are not enough to change your mind, check out a mother's heartfelt message about driving and cell phones here.
In the age of Twitter and Facebook mobile, our generation is becoming more and more connected. We check our emails on the go, update our facebook status and write about our lives in 140 characters or less dozens of times per day. We are constantly sharing and always connected.Our parents began the trend of distracted driving by applying makeup, changing cds, and eating while driving. Advancements in technology have allowed us to become even more distracted. Young drivers have taken this to another level. We may have a handsfree headset but we also have a GPS, ipod, 6 disc cd changer, smartphone equipped with a QWERTY keyboard or touch screen.
The statistics are alarming. After surveying 800 teens in 4 US cities over the summer of 2009, Pew estimates that 26% of all American teens 16-17 have texted while driving, and 43% have talked on a cell phone while driving. I believe the numbers are much higher than that. If we count teens and young adults who check emails, apply makeup, and fiddle with anything else in the car,it amounts to is millions of distracted drivers.
Here are some other interesting and perhaps alarming statistics:
- 75% of all American teens 12-17 own a cell phone
- 82% of teens 16-17 have a cell phone & 76% text.
- Overall, 34% of teens 16-17 say they have texted while driving, which translates to 26% of all American teens 16-17.
- Boys and girls are equally likely to report texting behind the wheel.
- 55% of teens 14-17 report that they have witnessed a driver texting as a passenger (48% for 12-17, and 32% for 12-13).
Want to make your car a phone free zone? Well there isn't an app for it yet but you can make the pledge here. The pledge is not only to end texting while driving, but it aims to end distracted driving altogether. So far over 39,000 people have made their pledge which reads as follows:
I pledge to make my car a No Phone Zone. Beginning right now, I will do my part to help put an end to distracted driving by not texting or using my phone while I am driving. I will ask other drivers I know to do the same. I pledge to make a difference.
Test your knowledge of distracted driving here.
Check out what happens when distracted drivers are put to the test here.
Remember its not where your hands are, its where your head is.
The next time you are tempted to text, call or email while driving remember this: Don't tempt fate! That text or call can wait!
Source: http://mashable.com/2009/11/16/teens-dangerous-driving/; Oprah.com
Image source: google (where else?)
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