25% of Car Accidents Linked to Gadget Use

BogenDorpher writes "In a recent study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (PDF), driving distractions such as cell phones and other electronic devices cause as much as 25% of all US car accidents. It is common knowledge that driving while distracted is not a safe thing to do, but now we have some scientific data that goes in-depth on the topic. From the article: '"Despite all that has been written about driver distraction, there is still a lot that we do not know. Much of the research is incomplete or contradictory. Clearly, more studies need to be done addressing both the scope of the problem and how to effectively address it," said GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha.'"

Comments

Here come the "But not special *ME*!" posts

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you're NOT special.

Re:Here come the "But not special *ME*!" posts

[gfxguy]

I don't get it... are you saying cellphone use should be allowed while driving because younger drivers will be distracted anyway?

Obviously you can't eliminate all distractions, but that doesn't mean we should make it easier to be distracted.

Re:Here come the "But not special *ME*!" posts

[inglorion_on_the_net]

Or maybe you have just been lucky so far.

Also, it is worth noting that accidents don't only happen because _you_ are doing something wrong. You could get into an accident because someone else does something stupid. Personally, I think that traffic safety is a game we play together, and you have to have a bit of margin for when other people mess up. I have never been in an accident while I was driving, but I have been in a couple of near accidents because people did stupid things, like changing lanes or crossing without looking.

I also think that traffic laws should be made so that the vast majority can get along safely. Maybe you are an above average driver and can handle higher speed and a higher level of distraction safely. But if that were the case, I bet you wouldn't want to have the rules relaxed so that everybody could do that, if the result would be massive traffic jams because of people who, in your words, can't control their cars.

Re:Here come the "But not special *ME*!" posts

[gfxguy]

The question is, should we authorize jack booted thugs to hunt down and persecute people, for no other reason, than (insert distraction source of the moment) while driving, regardless of whether they are otherwise displaying a problem controlling their vehicle. That is the ONLY question actually on the table.

If you insist on that kind of hyperbole, then I'll just leave it as is and answer "yes," seeing how "persecute people 'for no other reason'" means "persecute people for creating an even more dangerous situation than driving already is."

Re:Here come the "But not special *ME*!" posts

[gfxguy]

The difference is that you see someone blah-blah-blahing on the phone; glancing in the back seat or pushing a preset button on the radio is distracting for a split second, chit-chatting on the phone is constant until the conversation is over.

Surely you guys whining that there are other distractions see a difference between a constant distraction and a momentary one? They can both cause accidents, but an accident is caused by a confluence of events... the car in front of you stops short, for example - but you're distracted 100% of the time you're on the phone, making it much more likely to affect your reactions at that "unlucky" moment.

Of course, being in a car at all (or riding a bike or being a pedestrian) is never 100% safe, you take that tiny, fractional risk for the sake of convenience all the time... glancing at junior in the backseat, or pushing a preset on the radio (something that doesn't even require looking away) is not comparable to being distracted for minutes (or more) at a time.

But has it increased by 25%?

[Kanel]

Does this mean that the number of car accidents has increased by 25? If not, what improvements have cancelled out the increase in accidents caused by cellphones and other gadgets? Are there fewer accidents caused by people fiddling for CDs in the glove compartment or trying to find a good AM channel? Are there fewer accidents caused by frustrated people trying to find their way on a fold-out map?

Re:But has it increased by 25%?

[rtb61]

With 32,708 deaths on US roads last year, word games won't solve the problem.

Obviously analysing the cause of every accident and endeavouring to eliminate the greatest causes by percentage will have the greatest impact upon reducing road tolls.

The the current generation of youth addicted to cell phones and texting, in fact taking priority over every other activity (they will practically stop anything they are doing to answer the phone and their use has to be actively banned to prevent this occurring).

Whilst the telecom and their marketdroids benefit by this action, this distraction at critical moments whilst driving causes problems, problem that lead to death and debilitating injury. Obviously ensuring people remain as focused as possible upon driving will reduce car accidents. Perhaps greater personal liability for causing an accident is warranted, some time cooling your lead foot in a low security detention facility (something that insurance won't cover). Perhaps further reductions to speed limits. Perhaps subsidised taxi's. Perhaps expanded, safer and cleaner public transport. Perhaps, lateral thinking, like easier access to 'quality' high density housing to promote foot traffic.