COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 18, 2016 3D
Distracted driving a real threat
Dating back to the days of the fi rst auto-
mobiles, drivers have always taken on a
degree of risk when getting behind the
wheel and hitting the open road. While
technology has done much to mitigate
that risk, it’s also contributed to the
growing number of distractions drivers
face on the road.
Distracted driving is a signifi cant threat.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, in 2012 more
than 3,300 people were killed in crashes
involving a distracted driver. Just a year
earlier, 17 percent of crashes in which
someone was injured involved distracted
driving.
Those fi gures are even more disturb-
ing when one considers the problem of
underreporting with regard to distracted
driving. The National Safety Council
notes that underreporting of mobile
phone use leading to car crashes makes
the issue of distracted driving appear
less substantial than it likely is. Perhaps
because they fear potential citations or
even possible incarceration, many driv-
ers involved in crashes do not admit to
using mobile phones while driving.
But a 2011 CDC study found that dis-
tracted driving is a genuine threat. In the
study, survey participants were asked
how often they had read or sent a text
message or email while driving in the
previous 30 days. Nearly one-third of
study participants in the United States
admitted that they had, and those fi gures
were similar in Portugal and Belgium. In
addition, 69 percent of U.S. drivers be-
tween the ages of 18 and 64 reported that
they had talked on their mobile phones
while driving in the past 30 days.
Combatting distracted driving is not
easy. As the use of mobile devices
grows, many people are fi nding it in-
creasingly diffi cult to put those devices
down, even when they are behind the
wheel of their automobiles. But there are
some steps drivers can take to improve
their awareness on the road.
One such step is to reduce reliance on
hands-free devices. Though it might
seem as though hands-free devices are
the ultimate weapon against distracted
driving, the NSC reports that more than
30 studies have shown that such devices
do not make drivers any safer. That’s
because drivers remain distracted by
the conservations they have while using
hands-free devices. Reports from the
NSC, Texas Transportation Institute
and AAA Foundation for Traffi c Safety
indicate that drivers talking on handheld
or hands-free devices can fail to see as
much as 50 percent of their surround-
ings. When driving, stick to driving so
you can focus all of your attention on the
road, where it belongs.
Another step drivers can take to improve
their awareness on the road is to educate
themselves and their teenaged drivers
about the dangers of distracted driving.
A University of Utah study found that
drivers using mobile phones had slower
reaction times than drivers
with a .08 blood alcohol con-
tent, which is the legal intox-
ication limit in many states.
If more drivers realized that
speaking on their mobile
phones impairs their reaction
time even more than driving
drunk, then perhaps more
people would put
down their phones
and continue their
conversations once
they reach their
destinations.
Finally, drivers who
recognize their hab-
its can take steps to
prevent those habits
from putting them
in harm’s way. If
you are never too
far away from your
mobile phone and
unable to resist the
urge to read and/or
answer a text mes-
sage or email, turn
your phone off and
put it in the glove
compartment before
you hit the road.
Doing so might just
save your life and
the lives of your
passengers and fel-
low motorists.
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