The deadly consequences of distracted driving
Police in Nova Scotia issue several thousand traffic tickets every year to drivers who are distracted by their cellular phones. Despite the vigilance shown by police, it is not hard to imagine that these numbers signify just the tip with the iceberg. How many times have you been driving down the street and seen someone talking on their cellphone, or engaging in some other type of distracting behaviour? According to police, distracted driving is one of the key reasons behind many fatal car collisions.
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS TO FATAL CAR ACCIDENTS
RCMP statistics show there are four key contributing factors to most fatal car accidents: Driving under the influence; ▪ Distracted driving; ▪ Aggressive driving; and ▪ Driving at excessive ▪ speeds.
DISTRACTED DRIVING AN INCREASING PROBLEM
The rising popularity of text messaging has led to an increase in the number of car collisions and fatal accidents caused or contributed to by drivers distracted simply by their cellphones.
MANY POTENTIAL DISTRACTIONS
In the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day activities sometimes we try to “multi-task” when we are driving. For example, how many times have you tried to juggle your morning coffee and breakfast bagel on your drive to work? We may think that we are able to pay attention to more than one task at a time. But it’s important to remember that when you are driving you are: Operating a machine that ▪ weighs thousands of pounds at high rates of speed; Driving across changing ▪ road conditions; Constantly calculating and ▪ changing your speed and distance from other vehicles; and Adjusting to other drivers, ▪ turn signals, and traffic signs. Do you really want to engage in such a potentially dangerous activity without giving it your full attention?
MAJORITY OF DRIVERS ARE DISTRACTED
According to research conducted by Traffic Injury Research Association and Transport Canada, the majority of Canadian drivers admit to engaging in distracting behaviour while driving.
DISTRACTION CAN BE DEADLY
The Canadian Automobile Association has published statistics indicating that 80 per cent of auto collisions and 65 per cent of near collisions were caused or contributed to by some form of driver distraction. For example, in one year alone, RCMP in British Columbia attributed 104 traffic deaths to distracted driving.
SEVERAL FACTORS BEHIND DRIVER DISTRACTION
Although texting and cellphone use is a significant contributor to driver distraction, just 18 per cent of distracted driving fatalities are because of cellphones. The remaining 82 per cent are due to a number of other disruptions, such as: Eating and drinking ▪ while driving; Hair brushing or putting ▪ on makeup; Reading instead watching ▪ the road; Adjusting a GPS unit or ▪ navigation system; and Changing the channel on ▪ the radio or adjusting an iPod. The reality is that any time you take your eyes off the road you are distracted and that distraction can lead to accidents, injuries or death.
CELLPHONES IN CARS AN INCREASE IN RISK
The Canadian Automobile Association has published research showing that drivers distracted by talking on a cellphone are four times more likely to be in a car crash. Drivers who are distracted by texting while they are driving are 23 times more likely to be involved in a car crash or a near miss.
FOOTBALL FIELD
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has published a report that states: “At highway speed, a driver sending a simple text message travels the length of a football field without looking at the road.” Reading or typing a text message requires drivers to look away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. If you are driving at 100 kilometres per hour, your car will travel nearly 140 meters.
DISTRACTED DRIVING = DRUNK DRIVING?
Most of us would never consider driving drunk. Although the majority of us, every so often, have engaged in distracting behaviour while driving that impairs our reaction time as much as, or worse, than driving drunk. Scientific studies show that talking on a cellphone while driving affects one’s reaction time to the same degree as having a blood-alcohol content of .08, the limit to be legally impaired.