Distracted driving biggest road danger

For the first time, distracted driving is the biggest danger on the roads, according to a new AAA study.

AAA’s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index found distracted driving now surpasses the menace of aggressive, drunk, drugged and buzzed drivers.

First released a decade ago, the index identifies and measures attitudes and behaviors of Americans related to traffic safety.

It found 88 percent of drivers surveyed said distracted driving is on the rise.

Anything that takes drivers’ attention away from driving can be a distraction. Sending a text message, talking on a cellphone, using a navigation system and eating while driving are a few examples of distracted driving.

Any of the distractions can endanger the driver and others.

The study also found that nine out of 10 drivers have a “Do-As-I-Say, Not-As-I-Do” attitude.

It found:

1 Nearly half (49 percent) of respondents report they’ve talked on handheld cellphones while driving; and more than a third (35 percent) admit they’ve sent a text or email, even though most believe it’s wrong to do so while driving.

1 Eighty-five percent consider it unacceptable to drive 10 mph over the speed limit on a residential street; however, 47 percent have done so in the past month;

1 Ninety-two percent said driving through a red light when they could have stopped is unacceptable; 43 percent did so in the past month;

1 Ninety-five percent view driving drowsy as unacceptable; but three in 10 admit to driving when they were so tired they had a difficult time keeping their eyes open at some point last month;

1 Ninety-four percent consider driving after drinking alcohol a serious threat to their personal safety; however, 13 percent reported driving at least once in the past year when they thought their alcohol levels might have been close to or possibly over the legal limit.

Next month, state troopers and local police will launch the “U Drive, U Text, U Pay” enforcement campaign. Distracted drivers can be fined $150 for a first offense, $300 for a second offense and $500 for third and subsequent offenses.

The price can be deadlier. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,477 people were killed in 2015 because of distracted driving. Another 391,000 were injured.

In Connecticut, there were 7,472 distracted driving crashes in Connecticut in 2015 that accounted for about 7 percent of all crashes last year. Distracted driving was involved in 4 percent of all fatal crashes in Connecticut in 2015 and 9 percent of all crashes resulting in injury.

“During daylight hours, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cellphones while driving. That creates enormous potential for deaths and injuries on U.S. roads. Teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes,” the NHTSA said in its report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says approximately nine people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver every day in the U.S.

The CDC says “texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction. Sending or reading a text message takes your eyes off the road for about 5 seconds, long enough to cover a football field while driving at 55 mph.”

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo AAA’s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index found distracted driving now surpasses the menace of aggressive, drunken, drugged and buzzed driving.