Driving while distracted: Safety campaign cites dangers

A motorist dials his cell phone while driving

Motorists warned not to multi-task behind the wheel

June 27, 2000
Web posted at: 1:42 p.m. EDT (1742 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Drivers who do something else while steering -- eating, talking on a telephone, putting on makeup, scolding children, even doing a crossword puzzle -- are the target of a new public awareness campaign launched Tuesday. It warns that such distractions can be dangerous, even deadly.

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The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, a coalition of government and corporate members interested in reducing traffic accidents, estimates that one-quarter to one-half of the roughly 6 million crashes each year are caused by distracted drivers.

"On a daily basis, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 to 8,000 crashes," said Mark Edwards, managing director of traffic safety programs for the American Automobile Association, a member of NETS.

At a Washington news conference announcing the safety campaign, Virginia State Police Officer Eric Radwick said that "a vast majority of accidents involve some kind of distracted driving."

Even police officers themselves have become victims.

"In February, I was struck by a distracted -- and also intoxicated -- driver who was on a cell phone while I was making a DUI arrest," said Radwick, who said he knows of three other Virginia troopers in marked cars who were hit by vehicles while making traffic stops.

"(Police cars) have all kinds of lights going. How can you not see us? Well, distractions are very -- distracting," he told reporters.

Edwards, at the same news conference, said: "Just thinking about things other than driving has the effect of removing your eyes from the road. And the research shows that when we give people these kinds of thinking tasks, their performance behind the wheel goes downhill."

Listen to Virginia State Police Officer Eric Radwick describe some of his experiences with motorists in the daily, fast-paced grind 303K/27 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 359K/33 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

According to a telephone survey of 1,026 drivers released by NETS:

• 70 percent of drivers routinely talk to passengers while driving.

• 47 percent adjust controls.

• 29 percent eat or read.

• 26 percent pick up something that fell.

• 19 percent talk on the phone.

• 15 percent do none of the above.

Respondents to the survey considered distracted driving as the fourth most serious driving safety issue, following drunken driving, aggressive driving and speeding. The survey, conducted June 16-19, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also is taking a look at what devices are being used on the road and strategies to reduce distraction.

It will take online comments from July 5 to August 11 at their Web site and will hold a public meeting on July 18 about the issue.

Rosalyn Millman, NHTSA deputy administrator, said the consequences of driver distraction range from economic loss to matters of life and death.

"Anything that distracts the driver from his or her primary task is something that concerns us," Millman said.

"Manufacturers and vendors have a responsibility to assess and understand the hazards posed by any device that they install or recommend for use by the driver -- before they are offered to their customers," she said.

Edwards said studies show that it is not always a device that provides the distraction. He said that when people think about something other than driving, such as what's for dinner, they aren't seeing the road.

The key to reducing accidents is to make drivers aware that they are distracted, Edwards said. Then they can reduce those dangerous activities.

"I don't think we're going to ban eating and drinking and passengers," he said. "What does make sense is training people to recognize when they are distracted."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety
NHTSA - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
American Automobile Association

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