Distracted Driving Survey by AAA and Seventeen Magazine

In a nationwide survey of 1,000 16- and 17-year-old teen drivers conducted in April of 2007, 61 percent reported engaging in risky and unsafe behaviors while driving. Some of these behaviors are understood to be unsafe, while others may not be so well understood by teens and their parents, such as driving with teen passengers. Here are the results:

• 66 percent exceed the speed limit by 10 mph or more.
  
  
• 11 percent have driven after drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs.
  
  
• 58 percent of teen respondents said they drive with their friends in the car, which can be a major distraction for teens.
  
  
• 32 percent send text messages while driving.
  
  
• More than 43 percent are reading text messages while driving.
  
  
• More than 8 out of 10 teens who admit to risky driving behaviors talk on a cell phone while driving.

Read the full article.

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Other facts about distracted driving:

• Distracted driving accounts for at least 25 percent of all traffic crashes across the country. (NHTSA, 2006)
  
  
• The odds of being involved in a crash or a near-crash are nearly twice as high when looking away from the forward roadway for two seconds or longer.
  
  
• Each year an estimated 284,000 distracted drivers are involved in serious crashes.
  
  
• The most common distraction for drivers is the use of cell phones. (NHTSA, 2006)
  
  
• Reaching for a moving object increases the risk of a crash or a near-crash by nine times; looking at an external object by 3.7 times; reading by three times; applying makeup by three times; dialing a hand-held device (typically a cell phone) by almost three times; and talking or listening on a handheld device by 1.3 times. (NHSTA, 2006)
  
  
• 974,000 vehicles on the road at any given daylight moment are being driven by someone on a hand-held phone. (NHTSA)

Common causes of distracted driving crashes include:

• An outside person, object or event.
  
  
• Adjusting radio, cassette, CD.
  
  
• Other passenger or occupant in vehicle.
  
  
• Moving object in vehicle.
  
  
• Adjusting vehicle/climate controls.
  
  
• Eating or drinking.
  
  
• Cell phone usage.
  
  
• Text messaging.
  
  
• Smoking related.

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To minimize your crash risk, avoid engaging in risky behavior and all distractions while driving. Before getting behind the wheel, it is important that you know how to manage distractions. The best way to do this is to:

• Recognize that driving requires your full attention. If you find your mind wandering, remind yourself to stay focused on the road.
  
  
• Before you get behind the wheel, familiarize yourself with the features of your vehicle's equipment.
  
  
• Preset radio stations and climate control.
  
  
• Secure items that may move around when the car is in motion.
  
  
• Avoid smoking, eating, drinking and reading while driving.
  
  
• Ask a passenger to help you with activities that may be distracting.

If possible, avoid using a cell phone while driving. But if you must:

• Be familiar with the features of your cell phone before you get behind the wheel.
  
  
• Use your cell phone only when necessary. Limit casual conversations to times when you're not trying to safely operate a motor vehicle.
  
  
• Plan your conversation in advance, and keep it short.
  
  
• Let the person you're speaking with know you are in a vehicle.
  
  
• Do not engage in emotional conversations while trying to drive.
  
  
• Do not combine distracting activities such as talking on your cell phone while driving, eating and adjusting your climate control.
  
  
• Use message-taking functions and return calls when you are stopped at a safe location.
  
  
• Ask a passenger in the car to place the call for you and, if possible, speak in your place.
  
  
• Secure your phone in the vehicle so that it doesn't become a projectile in a crash.

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