Articles Posted in Traffic Accidents

Each year, an astonishing 1.3 million people die in car crashes, and a whopping 20-50 million are injured. Car accidents are the 9th leading cause of death among adults and the #1 cause of death among young people. These crashes cost U.S. citizens over $230.6 billion each year. The vast majority of these accidents are caused by negligent and reckless drivers.

In fact, a new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, described in the NY Daily News, has shown that 80% of car accidents in the U.S. are caused by distracted drivers who are eating while driving. While many drivers feel confident in their multitasking abilities, the facts show that eating while driving is dangerous. An alarming 70% of drivers eat while driving, and 83% drink beverages. Eating and drinking distracts drivers. Rather than focusing on the road, drivers are focused on rooting around in the bag for the last French fry and unwrapping a sandwich.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that burgers are the most commonly eaten food during food-related car accidents. Given the prevalence of fast food restaurants and the relative ease of grabbing a burger to-go from a drive thru, this is not surprising. What is surprising, though, are the other top contenders on the list. Soup, tacos, chili dogs, ribs, wings, fried chicken, jelly donuts, and chocolate are all top culprits. In addition, coffee and soda have been notorious for causing spills that distract drivers and cause 65% of near misses.

The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released a research note on the prevalence of drivers using hand held devices while driving. NHTSA is tasked with keeping the roads safe. It does so by conducting research on driver behavior and traffic safety, enforcing safety performance standards for motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment and providing information to consumers and other road users.

The note is based on a survey by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis which along with NHTSA is part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The survey, the National Occupant Protection Use survey (NOPUS), is the only nation-wide probability based survey of device use conducted in the United States. The NOPUS is based on in-person observation taken by surveyors at intersections during daylight hours. The information is only recorded from stopped vehicles by trained volunteers and the data collected includes such information as age, gender, race and vehicle type (car or truck).

Perhaps counterintuitively, the NOPUS found no statistically relevant increase in the use of drivers text messaging or visibly manipulating electronic devices with the rate increasing only marginally from 1.3 percent in 2011 to 1.5 percent in 2012. Driver’s hand-held cell phone use remained steady at 5 percent. The rate of drivers holding a phone directly to their ear while driving also stayed at 5 percent. This figure translates into 66,000 drivers driving while holding a phone to their ear at any given daytime moment during 2012. The statistics also mean that at any given daytime moment in 2012 9 percent of drivers were using some type of device.

According to a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, if all passenger vehicles were equipped with front crash prevention, lane departure warning, blind spot detection and adaptive headlight systems, one in three fatal crashes could be avoided and one in five crashes resulting in an injury could be prevented or mitigated. While it is probably unrealistic to expect all vehicles to have all of these crash avoidance technologies, the study underscores the fact that such technology can help to prevent crashes or reduce their potential for causing serious injuries.

Crash avoidance technologies help drivers to operate a vehicle safely. They monitor a vehicle’s environment through sensors and other devices and warn drivers of potential accidents by sounding a warning or even reducing a vehicle’s speed by automatically applying the brakes. For instance, front crash prevention systems utilize sensors, cameras, radar or light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to detect if a car is too close to the vehicle in front of it. If sensors detect an impending crash, the system may trigger an audible warning or brake the vehicle automatically. Some front crash prevention systems even recognize pedestrians.

Another crash avoidance technology, lane departure warning and prevention, utilizes cameras to track a vehicle’s position within a lane. If the system detects that a car is drifting from a lane, it will alert the driver by either vibrating the seat or steering wheel, or by sounding an alarm. Blind spot detection systems contain sensors on the side of the car that detect vehicles in blind spot areas. The system provides a warning to the driver on or near the sideview mirrors. If the driver starts to make a lane change while a vehicle is in a blind spot, the system will sound an audible warning.

According to figures recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 3,328 people were killed in 2012 as the result of distracted driving crashes. In the same time period, 421,000 people were injured as the result of distracted drivers. To combat the ever-increasing problem of cell phone use and texting and driving, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the start of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April 2014. The program will combine a nationwide advertisement campaign as well as a high-visibility law enforcement crackdown on distracted driving.

The $8.5 million advertising campaign will be on television, radio and the Internet and will be conducted in both English and Spanish. The ads will contain the catch phrase U Drive. U Text. U Pay. Discussing the new ads, Secretary Foxx remarked, “This campaign puts distracted driving on par with our efforts to fight drunk driving or to encourage seatbelt use. Across the country, we’re putting distracted drivers on notice: If you’re caught texting while driving, the message you receive won’t be from your cell phone, but from law enforcement–U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” The advertising campaign will also be combined with a nationwide, high-visibility law enforcement crackdown on texting and driving from April 10 to April 15, 2014. During this time, thousands of law enforcement personnel will use traditional and innovative techniques to catch distracted drivers. Currently, 43 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have laws banning texting and driving for all ages; twelve states, D.C. Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban cell phone use among drivers of all ages; thirty-seven states and D.C. prohibit cell phone use among new drivers.

Before launching the nationwide campaign, the federal government tested the program in California and Delaware. The program, which used the phrase Phone in One Hand. Ticket in the Other, proved to be effective. In California, police issued 10,700 tickets for distracted driving. In Delaware, police issued 6,200 tickets to drivers who were on the phone or texing. In addition, observed hand-held cell phone use dropped by 33 percent in each area. In California, such use dropped from 4.1 percent to 2.7 percent; in Delaware, observed cell phone use dropped from 4.5 percent to 3 percent.

Talking to an elderly grandparent or parent about not driving before they are no longer able to drive is key for seniors who want to make a smooth transition from being a driver to being dependent on others for transportation.

Elin Schold Davis, a coordinator of the Older Driver Initiate at the American Occupational Therapy Association, says, “We talk about finances; we talk about housing; we have to talk about transportation.”

While many senior drivers stop driving on their own, Schold Davis points out that giving up driving can be emotional and create a loss of independence. However, at-risk seniors who give up driving are protecting others as well as themselves. Being in a car crash could render elderly drivers totally dependent on others for care. “That senior is much more vulnerable to have fractured ribs, fractured bones and to have their health status markedly diminished following that low speed crash,” Schold Davis says.