Received in redirected mail. Please read and take appropriate actionSent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:00 PM
Subject: DEADLY distraction- DO NOT USE MOBILE PHONE AT ALL WHILE DRIVING
According to statistics, a person will die in a vehicle crash every 12
seconds in the United States. Statistics also show that vehicle crashes are the
leading cause of death for Americans age 35 and younger, and 98% of reported accidents involve a single distracted
driver.
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Distractions include:
- rubbernecking (watching other drivers and accidents),
- driver fatigue,
- looking at scenery,
- passenger- or child-related distractions,
- adjusting the radio,
- and cell phone use. In fact, a new study confirms
that the reaction time of cell phone users slows dramatically, increasing the
risk of accidents and tying up traffic in general.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association reports that in
1990, approximately 4.3 million people subscribed to wireless communication
devices such as cell phones; in May 2007, that number was 236 million. With
increased reliance on cell phones, the number of people using them while driving
has naturally increased.
There are predominantly two dangers associated with
driving while using cell phones:
- drivers must take their eyes off the road to dial
and
- people become so absorbed in their conversations
that their ability to concentrate on driving is impaired.
University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer, in a study on cell
phone use and auto accidents, said, "If you put a
20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are
the same as a 70-year-old who is not using a cell phone." Strayer"s
study was published in the quarterly journal Human Factors.
Each year, cell phone distraction while driving causes approximately 2,600
deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States. Because data on cell phone use
is somewhat limited, the actual numbers of deaths and injuries may be much
higher. Strayer and his colleagues have found that
- even hands-free cell phone use distracts
drivers. They explain that the drivers are looking but they"re not really
seeing because they are distracted by the conversation they are engaged
in.
According to this study,
- scientists found that motorists talking on
cell phones while driving are less adept than drunk drivers with blood alcohol
levels beyond the legal limit of .08.
- The cell phone users" impaired
reactions involved seconds, not just fractions of seconds, so stopping
distances increased by car-lengths, not
feet.
Motorists who use cell phones while driving
are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure
themselves, according to a study by the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety. The July 2005 study suggested that banning hand-held cell
phone use wouldn"t improve safety if drivers simply switch to hands-free phones
and continue to talk and be distracted. The study concluded that crash and
injury risk did not vary with type of cell phone used. In 2001, New York passed
the first law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving prompting a
national debate on the extent of the danger cell phone use while driving
poses.
In May 2007, Washington state became the first state to ban the practice of
text messaging while driving; the fine for DWT (driving while texting) is $101,
but it is a secondary offense, meaning the driver must be pulled over for some
other infraction before the DWT penalty can be imposed.
While cell phones play an integral role in our society, the convenience
they offer may be coming at a very high price.
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