Distracted driving climbs with more phone woes
Laura Adams knows as much as anyone about distracted driving. But her knowledge isn’t from experiences as a driver or passenger. She’s an analyst who studies statistics and is shocked at what the numbers reveal.
Adams, based in Austin, Texas, works for DriversEd.com. The online driving school and driving safety resource headquartered in Oakland, California, recently released the results of its inaugural initiative detailing drivers’ habits.
“There’s an argument to be made that in 2018 distracted driving is actually a worse problem in America than drunk driving,” said Adams. “The fact that so many people are texting and driving is alarming, but not surprising.
“What is shocking is the millions of people who are watching Netflix and YouTube videos while driving. These drivers may as well be playing behind-the-wheel Russian Roulette.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving, “Is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system. It’s anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.”
DriversEd.com’s survey analyzed the results of more than 1,400 survey respondents and detailed the behavior of drivers — from texting to drinking to YouTube to Snapchat viewing to using marijuana.
The results showed 73 percent of drivers admitted to reading text messages while driving and 54 percent admitted to typing text messages while driving. About 39 percent of drivers said that while driving, they check and use their phones more often than they should.
“Some of what’s going on behind the wheel is old-fashioned,” said Adams. “But some of it is related to new technology. The big takeaway for me is texting. We know people are texting. We see it all the time. Maybe we’re even doing it.
“But the numbers are pretty high and when we asked people if they thought they were using their phones more than they should, 39 percent said yes but they haven’t changed their behaviors.”
The demographics of those polled represented a broad range of household income, geographic location, age and gender.
While texting is the primary culprit of distracted driving, the dilemma is increasing in several areas. The DriversEd.com study detailed 18 percent of drivers reporting checking social media accounts while driving. Ten percent of the drivers admitted to driving after smoking or ingesting marijuana. Eight percent of the drivers admitted to watching YouTube videos while driving.
Perhaps the most alarming phenomenon of the survey, Adams related, has resulted in the dubious term, “Netflixing.”
Four percent of the drivers in the survey said they’ve watched Netflix programming while driving.
“You can imagine,” said Adams. “You’re sucked into a really good show on Netflix while you’re driving? Imagine how incredibly difficult that could be in terms of staying safe. I would encourage anyone who is even tempted to watch videos while driving to really, really reconsider it.”
Distracted driving doesn’t require obvious errors in judgment. Talking while on a speaker, using voice commands or headphones can also give a false sense of security. They’re cognitive distractions, according to Adams.
“When you are talking in the phone, even if it’s just routine conversation, some part of your brain is not paying attention,” she said.
The solution to distracted driving, according to Adams and her colleagues at DriversEd.com, is the combination of awareness, education and individual initiative. Parents can set examples by not using their phones when behind the wheel.
And the overriding takeaway, Adams said: “It’s really never safe to use your phone while driving. You never know what can happen when you take your eyes off the road.”
James Raia, a synidcated columnist based in Sacramento, publishes the website, www.theweeklydriver.com and its corresponding podcast. Contact him via email: james@ jamesraia.com.