Teen drivers on phones most crash-prone
TEENAGERS, the most crashprone drivers on US roads, may be even more dangerous than thought.
A review of in- car video and audio recordings of teen drivers moments before they crashed found some kind of distraction – such as grooming, mobile-phone use or even dancing – was a factor in four times as many accidents than previously estimated, AAA, the organisation formerly known as the American Automobile Association, said on Wednesday.
The distractions contributed largely to the drivers’ inattention to their surroundings and their failure to obey traffic signs and speed limits just before the crashes.
The data is being used by the AAA to push more states to adopt graduated licence laws, which limit the circumstances in which an adolescent motorist can drive and incrementally lift those restrictions as the person ages and gains more experience on the road.
“Access to crash videos has allowed us to better understand the moments leading up to a vehicle impact in a way that was previously impossible,” said Peter Kissinger, president and chief executive officer of the AAA Foundation for Traffic
Access to crash videos has allowed us to better understand the moments leading up to a vehicle impact in a way that was previously impossible.
Peter Kissinger, president and chief executive oficer of the AAA Foundation for Trafic Safety
Safety based in Washington. “Teen drivers are distracted in a much greater percentage of crashes than we previously realised.”
The AAA analysis of 1,691 real-time crash videos of teen drivers showed distractions, including talking, mobile-phone use, singing and dancing, and looking at something other than the road, was a factor in 58 per cent of all the crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had estimated distraction to be present in 14 per cent of teen crashes.
In the AAA study, 89 per cent of crashes where the car drove off the road involved some kind of distraction, as did 76 per cent of rear- end crashes. None of the crashes reviewed for the study involved fatalities.
Attending to passengers and mobile-phone use were the two most prevalent behaviors recorded in the moments before the crashes, according to the study.
Teens manipulating their phones took their eyes off the road for an average of 4.1 seconds out of the final six seconds before a crash.
Thirty- eight states and Washington, D.C., ban all mobilephone use for novice drivers, and 45 states ban texting for all drivers.
Based on numerous crash investigations, the US National Transportation Safety Board recommended in 2011 laws preventing all drivers from sending text messages or using phones — even with hands-free devices.
The safety board specifically cited an August 2010 crash in which a 19-year- old GMC pickup driver sent or received 11 text messages in 13 minutes before hitting the back of a tractortrailer.
Two school buses then collided with the stopped trucks, killing two and injuring 38.
The US Transportation Department estimated that 3,328 people were killed in distracteddriving crashes in 2012, and 387,000 were injured.
Previously published research by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which also uses cameras to gather data about real-world driving, showed that using a hand-held mobile phone or another portable device triples crash risk. Taking your eyes off the road for five seconds at 55 mph is like driving the length of a football field blindfolded, the institute says. — WP-Bloomberg