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Background: As of January 2020, 18 of 50 US states comprehensively banned almost all handheld cellphone use while driving, 3 states and the District of Columbia banned calling and texting, 27 states banned texting on a handheld cellphone, and 2 states had no general cellphone ban for all drivers. However, it remains unknown whether these […]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines distracted driving as “any activity that diverts attention from driving.” With the proliferation of personal electronic devices and in-vehicle technology in our society, many jurisdictions have enacted or pursued enhancements to distracted driving laws to reduce or eliminate crashes in which the proximate cause is distracted driving […]
When a person reads a text while driving, their eyes are off the road for an average of five seconds. At 55 miles per hour, that is like driving the length of a football field while blindfolded. Distracted driving continues to be an increasing problem. Crashes involving a distracted driver killed 3,142 people in 2019, […]
By now, we all should be aware of the deadly consequences of distracted driving. Yet, driving while distracted by cell phone use has become too common an occurrence on the nation’s roads. This must stop. Click here to read the full blog post.
U DRIVE. U TEXT. U PAY. Distracted driving has become a national epidemic – endangering passengers, adjacent vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. While distracted driving can take many other forms – adjusting the radio, putting on makeup, eating, or interacting with other passengers – texting has become one of the most common, pervasive forms […]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) works to reduce the occurrence of distracted driving and raise awareness of its dangers. This risky behavior poses a danger to vehicle occupants as well as pedestrians and pedalcyclists. Driver distraction is a specific type of driver inattention. Distraction occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving […]
Distracted driving related to cell phone usage ranks among the top three causes of fatal crashes on the road. Although forty-eight of 50 U.S. states allow the use of personal devices if operated hands-free and secured in the vehicle, scientific studies have yet to quantify the safety improvement presumed to be introduced by voice-to-text interactions. […]
NHTSA recognizes that States and our law enforcement and first responder partners are working tirelessly to respond to the current public health emergency. In order for States to prioritize public health, NHTSA is postponing its currently scheduled traffic safety campaigns, including the Distracted Driving, Heatstroke Awareness, and Click It or Ticket campaigns. NHTSA recognizes that […]
According to a NCSDR report (NCSDR): “NHTSA data indicate that in recent years there have been about 56,000 crashes reported by police annually that cited driver drowsiness/fatigue [Drowsy Driving, which we are calling DrD]. Annual averages of roughly 40,000 nonfatal injuries and 1,550 fatalities result from these crashes. It is widely recognized that these statistics […]
With the increased use of electronic devices, distracted driving is assumed to be one of the main causes of crashes. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has demonstrated interest in addressing distracted driving. However, the real impact of distracted driving on traffic crashes in Illinois is still unclear because of what appears to be a […]
