Chances are every driver on today’s roads has driven while distracted; multi-tasking, is, after all, the American way.  Although accident prevention and safety is of paramount importance, scores of people would probably admit to having eaten a fast-food hamburger, changed a radio station, talked on a cell phone or texted a message while behind the wheel.  And we’ve all seen someone applying makeup, reading a map, writing an email or squirting a package of sauce onto a burger while operating a moving vehicle.  Scary, scary stuff.

According to the US Department of Transportation, distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.  And distraction, whether it’s visual, manual or cognitive; is a growing hazard on the road – just check out these frightening statistics:

• Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)
• Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. (Source: Carnegie Mellon)
• 80 percent of all crashes and 65 percent of near crashes involve some type of distraction. (Source: Virginia Tech 100-car study for NHTSA)
• Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured. (NHTSA)
• The worst offenders are the youngest and least-experienced drivers: men and women under 20 years of age. (NHTSA)
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

Texting while driving has become a very hot topic thanks to Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone” crusade, and teens are some of the worst offenders.  A recent study by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Liberty Mutual Insurance Group showed that 50% of teens admit to texting while driving.  A statistic made even scarier when you consider that teens have limited driving experience to begin with.  The NHTSA reports that the youngest and least experienced drivers – men and women under the age of 20 – are the worst offenders.  Oprah’s campaign has truly brought the texting issue, and accident prevention and safety, to the forefront of American media.

Some states and territories have enacted bans on hand-held devices or texting.  Arizona is not one of them despite the fact that an NHTSA survey showed that more drivers in Western States were observed manipulating hand-held electronic devices (2.1%) than in the other regions of the country (from 0.4% in the Northeast to 0.8% in the Midwest).  And the use of hand-held devices increased the most in the West, from 0.6 percent in 2007 to 2.1 percent in 2008.  Arizona safety training is clearly something that deserves more attention.

It’s time for us to get serious about accident prevention and safety.  Put down the phone, in fact, put it in your trunk so you’re not tempted to use it!  Talk to your family about the hazards of driving while distracted in any way.  Take an Arizona safety training course.  Sign up for an Arizona defensive driving course.  Do anything you can do to help make our Arizona roadways safer for everyone to travel.

Texting While Driving is extremely dangerous! In some states, it’s even illegal. Recent studies suggest that driving while texting is becoming more common for both adults and teens, which means more can be done to promote accident prevention and safety.  To help curb this dangerous trend, start by taking a defensive driving course. Such courses do not cost much and prevent needless auto accidents as well as save lives.

Driving is already challenging enough.  Adding texting to the scenario makes focusing on the road more difficult and, at the very least, distracts you from using your defensive driving skills. According to a report by Jennifer Guevin at CNET, a recent study found that “texting took a driver’s focus away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds–enough time…to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.” Wow!  If we increase our speed to 75 miles per hour, which is common for many drivers, in 4.6 seconds we would have traveled 170 yards!!  That’s really scary!!!

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