Distracted
Driving in the United States: Statistics, Risks, and Behavior Patterns
By
PrincessImp
The emergence of wide-spread
cell phone use in the early 2000s afforded American citizens unprecedented levels
of convenient connectivity with their families and friends as well as easy,
efficient access to a wealth of information.
These luxuries, however, have come at some cost as people have increasingly
started using their cell phones in public spaces, in their workplaces, and even
while driving in their cars. This essay
will briefly address the growing epidemic of cell-phone usage while driving. Specifically, three types of distracted
driving will be defined, some statistics about distracted driving-related injuries
and deaths will be presented, and two recent studies on American driver
behavior patterns will be reviewed.
According to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), distracted driving refers to any activity
performed while driving that diverts one’s attention from the road. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
has stated that there are three main types of distracted driving: visual,
manual, and cognitive. Visual distractions
require the driver to take her eyes off of the road, such as changing the
channel on the car radio. Manual distractions
involve removing one’s hands from the steering wheel, such as would be the case
while eating or drinking. Finally,
cognitive distractions include any activity that requires the driver to take
her mind off of driving, such as talking to a passenger or making a phone call. Text messaging while driving presents a uniquely
dangerous distraction, as it involves all three types of distraction. That is, one must look at the phone, mentally
compose a text, and then type and send it.
Despite the risks that such complex distraction can present, according
to an estimate disseminated by NHTSA in 2011, approximately 660,000 drivers are
using cell phones while driving at any given daylight moment across America.
Researchers have learned
that drivers are notorious for overestimating their driving capabilities while
underestimating the risk of distractions.
The Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Massachusetts, for
example, studied 41 drivers and compared their driving skill while undistracted,
while distracted with a simple task, and while distracted by a complex task. Objectively, the most complex distractions
contributed to the greatest decrease in driver safety; however, the
participants in this particular study were unable to recognize the differences in
the complexity of the tasks presented to them and more alarmingly, were also
confident that none of the distractions presented had any negative impact upon
their driving skill. In a 2014 study
conducted by AT&T, with assistance from David Greenfield, founder of the
Center for Internet and Technology Addiction and professor at the University of
Connecticut’s School of Medicine, over 25% of those study participants who
admitted to text messaging while driving endorsed a belief that they could “easily
do several things at once, even while driving.”
Similarly, one might
argue that sending a short text message will bring little risk, as the task
takes so little time. In actuality, however,
in the five seconds that it might take to send or read a text message, a distance
equal to the length of a football field can be traveled while driving at only 55
miles per hour. In other words, a driver
who sends a short message makes a decision to drive three hundred and sixty yards
with her eyes closed – something that no rational person would likely ever volunteer
to try. Furthermore, in a 2019 study conducted
in conjunction with the University of Utah, the AAA Foundation for Traffic
Safety set out to test the visual and cognitive demand created by Infotainment
Centers in six 2018 car models. They found
that younger (aged 21-36) drivers took a mean speed of 27.7 seconds (the equivalent
of driving just over one mile while “blind”) to send a text message while
driving, while older (aged 55-75) drivers required an average of 33.8 seconds
to send a text while driving.
According to the NHTSA
National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 3,166 people were killed in motor
vehicle accidents involving distracted drivers in 2017. There were 2,935 distracted driving-related
fatal car accidents in the United States in 2017. 401 (14%) of these fatal accidents were
specifically due to cell phone usage while driving and caused the deaths of 434
people. A similar percentage of nationwide
cell phone-related fatal motor vehicle accidents has steadily been reported
each year since 2013. Additionally, the
CDC reports that 391,000 injuries were caused by car crashes involving distracted
driving in 2015.
Even as public awareness
of the dangers of distracted driving has increased, many continue to do it
anyway. In 2014, AT&T and Greenfield
conducted a telephone interview of 1,004 American cell phone owners between the
ages of 16 and 65. Each study participant
stated that he or she drove at least once per day and text messaged at least
once per day. 98% of those surveyed indicated that they were aware of the
dangers of texting while driving; however, 75% of respondents admitted to doing
so anyway. This discrepancy between risk
awareness and behavior patterns was justified or explained in a variety of
ways. For example, 43% of the texting
drivers stated that they wanted to “stay connected” with family and friends. 33% stated that they texted while driving out
of habit. 28% of text messaging drivers admitted
to a fear of missing important information by not checking their phones. Finally, 14% of texting drivers admitted to
feeling “anxious” if they failed to respond quickly to a text message received
while driving.
In a study published in JAMA
Pediatrics in 2019, Gliklich, Maurer, and Bergmark compared texting while
driving behavior patterns in millennial parents compared to older parents. They conducted a cross-sectional national
online survey, with which they collected demographic data, inquired about texting
while driving with children in the car, asked whether a family pediatrician had
ever inquired about texting and driving, and administered the Distracted
Driving Survey (DDS). The DDS is a validated
measure that assesses the frequency of one’s reading and writing of text
messages, one’s use of cell phone apps while driving, and the highest speed at
which one has engaged in any cell phone activity while driving within the past
thirty days. Drivers between the ages of
22 and 37 years of age were considered to be “millennials,” while all older
parents were placed into a separate category.
Ultimately, the study included 225 millennials and 210 older parents
from 45 states in the U.S. In total, 68%
of all respondents admitted to having read a text while driving, while 54% had
written a text while driving within the past thirty days. Although millennial parents reported having
read text messages while driving more frequently than their older counterparts
did, both millennial and older parents reported having written text messages
while driving at statistically comparable rates (19.5% compared to 13.8%,
respectively). Lastly, millennial
parents had statistically higher DDS scores, indicating a higher rate of risky
behaviors that are associated with national motor vehicle crash rates.
In summary, this short
essay has addressed the problem of distracted driving – and specifically, the
use of cell phones while driving, in America.
Three types of distracted driving were reviewed, recent statistics about
distracted driving-related injuries and deaths were provided, and some research
data about the distracted driving behaviors of the American public were detailed. Though distracted driving is clearly pervasive
in our nation, it also brings significant, unnecessary, and entirely
preventable risk both to the one driving and to others on the road as
well.
Addendum: “Tom,” – I am really sorry about the lapse
in judgment that I demonstrated last week by sending even a brief text message
while driving. Even before writing this
essay, I knew that it was thoughtless, irresponsible, and foolish. Having written the essay, I recognize my choice
as having also been arrogant, selfish, and immature. That unnecessary text could have irreparably
changed our lives and the lives of others – for absolutely no good reason. Next time a similar situation occurs, I will
allow the “I’m driving” message that auto-responds to texts while I am driving
to speak for itself. If I absolutely
feel that the auto-response is insufficient, I will wait until I can stop somewhere
safely (NOT at a stoplight) to respond. I
love you. - Princess
💖 PrincessImp
