Distracted Drivers

re eight times more likely to crash

drivers who send or receive a text message tend to take their eyes off the road for about five seconds, enough time for a vehicle going at highway speed to travel more than 100 yards.

A promising Senate bill — the Alert Drivers Act of 2009 — would do exactly that. It would require states to adopt federally set minimum penalties for texting while driving or forfeit 25 percent of highway financing

"I think the thing that would happen -- this sounds horrible -- that would make me stop texting is if I actually had a wreck or I did run off onto the curb or something crazy like that," the Delta Air Lines flight attendant said.

"In general, people are overconfident and have a sense that they're capable of doing much more than they really are," he said. "People, especially adults, feel like driving is such an automated skill that basically they could do multiple things in addition to it without performance suffering."

The results, though not surprising, were eye-opening. Intern Brown’s baseline reaction time at 35 mph of 0.45 second worsened to 0.57 while reading a text, improved to 0.52 while writing a text, and returned almost to the baseline while impaired by alcohol, at 0.46.

Looking at Jordan’s slowest reaction time at 35 mph, he traveled an extra 21 feet (more than a car length) before hitting the brakes while reading and went 16 feet longer while texting. At 70 mph, a vehicle travels 103 feet every second, and Brown’s worst reaction time while reading at that speed put him about 30 feet (31 while typing) farther down the road versus 15 feet while drunk.

June 05, 2007

and 66% of those age 18-24 send text messages while behind the wheel

66% of these youngest adults said they have sent text messages while driving, compared to just 16% of cell phone owners overall.

80 percent of motorists rating distracted driving as a very serious threat to their safety.

more than half of those who admitted to reading or sending text messages or e-mails while driving indicated they were much more likely to have an accident.

90% of respondents said people driving after drinking alcohol was a very
serious threat to their safety; 87% said the same about text messaging
or e-mailing while driving

The new study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting

In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.