Drivers ‘cell’ on wheels
88% text and call
Despite laws restricting texting and making calls while driving, a new survey has found that 88 percent of drivers admit they use their smartphones on the road.
On average, drivers spent 3¹/2 minutes per hour on the phone, according to the study, released Monday by the Zendrive analytics firm.
That’s disturbing because even a two-second distraction increases the likelihood of a crash by 20 times, according to authorities.
The study also looked at National Safety Council reports that found the number of traffic deaths surpassed 40,000 in 2016 for the first time in 10 years, after a steady 40-year decline. That was up 6 percent from 2015.
Zendrive examined the habits of 3.1 million drivers who took 570 million trips over 5.6 billion miles from December 2016 to February 2017 for the survey.
Using the data from the three-month study, the company found that Vermont, which bans handheld cellphone use while driving, leads the states in distracted drivers.
Mississippi, which doesn’t have a ban, came in second place, followed by Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma — which also have no bans in place.
Of the 10 states with the least distracted drivers, six have banned cellphone use while driving, including the top two: Oregon and Washington.
New York, which has handheld-cell ban, placed 23rd, and New Jersey, which also prohibits hand heldcellphone use, came in 45 th.
Even though New York placed in the middle of the pack, Gov. Cuomo announced Monday that State Police had handed out 15,104 tickets during a special enforcement period from April 6 through April 10 as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
According to officials, 2,005 of these tickets were for distracted driving, 4,487 were for speeding, and the rest were for other violations, including 206 for DWI.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, 14 states ban drivers from using any handheld devices while behind the wheel, and 46 states ban texting while driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 3,500 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2015.
A spokeswoman for the GHSA said distracted driving is a “challenging behavior to break” because much of it is linked to simple daily activities, such as remembering to call somebody while driving to the store.
And despite advertising campaigns to alert people to the dangers and state laws prohibiting the use of cellphones, the meaning doesn’t always register.
“Drivers are getting the message but not taking it to heart,” said Kara Macek, the GHSA spokeswoman. “They know they shouldn’t be doing it and are well aware of the laws.”