Kicking off National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

By Nicholas Worrell, Chief, NTSB Safety Advocacy Division

More people are dying in crashes since the pandemic began. Deaths on our roads increased from 36,096 in in 2019 to 38,824 in 2020, and to an estimated 31,720 in the first 9 months of 2021, a further 12% increase. At that rate of increase, fatalities will be well over 40,000 for the full year.

Our roads have become more dangerous, and Americans know it. A new study from Nationwide finds that, compared with 2020, more than three quarters of respondents think drivers are more aggressive, drive faster, and are more reckless. “Even more frightening,” says Nationwide, “more than a third of drivers (34%) believe it is safe to hold your phone while driving—whether that is to make a call, send a text, or use navigation.”

Additionally, the Travelers Companies recently announced the results of the 2022 Travelers Risk Index on distracted driving. The results “suggest that work-related pressure might lead to distracted driving. Most business managers (86%) expect employees to respond to work-related communications at least sometimes while outside the office during work hours. One-third expect employees to answer or participate in work calls while driving.”

Since the pandemic began, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been reporting upticks in risky driving such as speeding, impairment by alcohol and other drugs, and driving without a seatbelt—a driver’s best protection in a crash. But what about distracted driving?

Late last year, citing studies by Cambridge Mobile Telematics and Zendrive, NHTSA stated that risks associated with distracted driving rose during the pandemic too. One study suggested that, in 16% of crashes detected, a cell phone was manipulated within 5 seconds of the crash.

What is distracted driving?

Distraction occurs when drivers divert their attention away from the driving task. Personal electronic devices, such as cell phones and tablets, are among the culprits, though activities such as grooming and eating contribute as well.

Visual distraction is taking your eyes off the road—for example, to glance down at a twitter feed. Manual distraction is taking your hands away from the vehicle controls, such as when you text or search for a phone contact. Cognitive distraction degrades driving when your mind is not on the road. Even if you use your phone hands-free, you are subject to cognitive distraction—mentally focusing on something other than the driving task.

NHTSA says that 3,142 people lost their lives to distracted driving in 2019, and that is likely an undercount. Often those who have lost a loved one to such senseless road violence are driven to action, like these participants in our 2017 roundtable, “Act to End Deadly Distractions.”

What you can do

Last year, NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg announced the launch of the National Distracted Driving Coalition to unite the many individuals and organizations that are working for change, so that member organizations can focus on their own strengths, while developing common resources to avoid duplication of efforts.

Passionate individuals and organizations, responsible companies and legislatures, the academic community, and government agencies have begun to make an impact on distracted driving behaviors and strengthening distracted driving laws across the nation.

But anybody who drives can do their part just by disconnecting for the drive. 

Be the boss of your devices, not the other way around. And be a boss in general. Plan for how and when you will take calls—not while driving—and let people know your plan. Let people know that you’ll be on the road, or you’ll be on your phone, but not both. Because no call, no text, no update is worth a human life.

Connect with us

Follow us on the Web and Twitter to learn more about this month’s advocacy engagement to eliminate distracted driving.

• Website: http://www.NTSB.gov
• Twitter: @NTSB

Upcoming Event:

• April 13, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern – National Distracted Driving Coalition #Act2EndDD Webinar

Additional Resources

NTSB Most Wanted List

• Eliminate Distracted Driving

NTSB Distracted Driving Roundtables and Forum

• Roundtable: Act to End Deadly Distractions
• Western States Teen Safe Driving Roundtable

NTSB Blogs

• Focus on Distracted Driving
• Act to End Distracted Driving: One Life at a Time
• Act to End Deadly Distractions
• Today’s Actions, Tomorrow’s Consequences
• Addressing Dangers on the Roads: This is no April Fools!
• Protect Your Business by Protecting Your Employees
• Cognitive Distraction and the Hands-Free Device Myth
• Deadly Addictions
• Eliminate Distractions
• Eliminate Distracted Driving

ACT TO END DEADLY DISTRACTIONS

By Acting Chairman Robert Sumwalt

Distracted driving kills, on average, nine people every day on our highways and injures even more. Every day, families are left to grieve the loss of a loved one killed in a highway crash, their lives suddenly in disarray. These preventable tragedies must stop. We must all do our part and take action so that families no longer lose loved ones to a preventable death.

Often, the families and friends left behind after a fatal car crash become survivor advocates, turning their tragedy into action. This week, we will be hosting some of these survivor advocates at our second distraction roundtable, Act to End Deadly Distractions. We will be teaming with Stopdistractions.org, DRIVE SMART Virginia, and the National Safety Council to host this discussion.

I’m excited to facilitate this event, which is designed to focus on survivor advocates’ experiences of what has worked and what hasn’t in their fight against distracted driving. Above all, this roundtable is designed to facilitate effective action. The survivor advocate community will be exploring ways to act in their own towns and states to “move the needle” toward zero distracted driving deaths.

Our first distraction roundtable brought together experts to dive into what we know and don’t know about the science of distraction. At that event one fact became clear: distracted driving is taking lives. According to one market research company, since 2007, the percentage of Americans ages 13 and older with smartphones went from 6% to more than 80%. Although there have always been distractions competing with our focus on driving, these devices are especially addictive and, despite what we tell ourselves, we cannot safely or effectively multitask. To turn the tide will take a change in culture, especially in attitudes about portable electronic devices.

Experience with other causes of highway deaths shows that the science alone will not be enough to stop tragedy. Nor will awareness efforts. Heightened awareness, the right laws and policies, and tough enforcement all must play a role. The NTSB often makes recommendations aimed at changing safety culture within a company or even within a whole industry. We have recommended that states pass legislation to ban drivers from nonemergency use of portable electronic devices. We can’t “recommend” a way to change the minds and behavior of a whole nation of drivers, so we’re facilitating a conversation among survivor advocates and experts in awareness campaigns and in state houses.

We hope that you’ll join us. The roundtable begins at 9:00 am, April 26, in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC. The event is convenient to the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station. You can also watch the event live at http://ntsb.capitolconnection.org/ and comment via Twitter @NTSB using #Act2EndDD.

 

What’s Changed About Distracted Driving? We Hope, At Least, You

By Robert L. Sumwalt

We’ve all seen it happen. . . We’re driving toward our destination, eyes on the road, when we notice a car in the lane next to ours start to drift slowly toward us. We adjust our own vehicle, then gradually slow down to allow for the erratic driver’s apparent need for access to both lanes. Then, through the other car’s rear window, we find out why it was unable to maintain its own lane: its driver was chatting away or attempting to text, rather than focusing on the task of driving.

But how many of us have used such a close call to adjust our own behavior toward distractions in the car? Are we doing enough to spread the word about the danger distractions pose? And how can we do it more effectively?

To kick off Distracted Driving Awareness Month last year, I had the privilege of hosting a roundtable discussion of national leaders in distraction research, transportation industry executives, and safety advocates. It was an unprecedented exchange of diverse viewpoints, but a few key takeaways emerged:

• Eyes, hands, and mind on the road! Despite different methodologies, there is basic scientific agreement that cognitive distraction can degrade driving performance. Everybody understands that looking away or fiddling with gadgets increases risk – the problem is getting people to understand that even hands-free devices add driving risk too.

• It’s worse than we thought – about four times worse. When we look at studies of distraction among teen drivers, we’re finding out that the national statistics attempting to show the prevalence of distraction is actually underreporting it by a factor of four.

• (Temporarily) exiling digital natives. We need to train our children to make safe decisions, and to learn self-control so that the underlying behavior itself is changed. Technology can solve many problems with distraction, but consistently safe behavior remains critical.

• Can safety sell in the state house? Many state legislators admit that voting to ban the use of personal electronic devices in private vehicles is such a political hot potato that they won’t do it, even when they recognize the associated safety risk.

As National Distracted Driving Awareness Month comes to an end this week, we have to ask ourselves – has anything changed?

Incredibly, four states still permit texting and driving. Only 14 states and DC have laws prohibiting handheld cell phones while driving. The political will to pass effective laws banning distracting technologies from our vehicles is still lacking, evidenced by the fact that no state has yet taken the step to prohibit all PED use while driving.

And, remember that car with the distracted driver creeping into your lane? Because they know the law does not punish their distracted driving with a penalty, they might continue their dangerous behavior until they – or you – pay a much higher price.

Legislators may not have the resolve to end distracted driving, but you can chose to end distracted driving.  Make the personal choice: don’t be a distracted driver, and don’t tolerate distracted driving by your children or friends.

This blog also appears on the National Safety Council (NSC) website.  NSC has received permission from the NTSB to reproduce it on the website.

Helping Build a Nation of Safe, Healthy Communities

By Dr. Mary Pat McKay

As an Emergency Physician, it’s been my duty to break bad news to friends and family members who have raced to the emergency department after hearing that their loved one was in a motor vehicle crash. When I start speaking, their faces reflect a mix of hope and fear, but then grim, irrevocable grief dawns with the realization that their loved one died in the crash.

Although it was always there in the back of my mind, I left out the part where their loved one’s death was entirely preventable.

Today marks the start of Public Health Week, when the American Public Health Association brings together communities across the nation to recognize past public health contributions and to highlight present public health challenges.

There is no public health challenge more pressing than our nation’s epidemic of motor vehicle crash deaths. Public health is not only about disease outbreaks, contaminated drinking water, diet, exercise, or smoking cessation. It is also about preventing injuries and deaths in motor vehicle crashes, a leading cause of death for all Americans – and the leading cause of death for Americans from ages 5 to 24.

More than 30,000 of us die every year because of a motor vehicle crash.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2.5 million Americans went to the emergency department —and nearly 200,000 were then hospitalized—for crash injuries in 2012.

In addition to the human suffering associated with hospitalization, disability, and lost productivity, there is a significant economic impact. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the economic cost of crash deaths and injuries in 2010 was more than $240 billion.

The numbers are still being counted, but motor vehicle crashes – and the deaths and injuries resulting from them – are increasing, with an increase of more than 10 percent expected for 2015. That’s potentially 3,000 more unnecessary deaths. I think that’s unacceptable and it makes it even more critical to focus on using proven interventions.

The same public health perspective that can eliminate a disease can one day eliminate our epidemic of crash deaths. Just as the solution to preventing many communicable diseases is washing your hands, there are equally simple and easy ways that you can personally prevent the epidemic of motor vehicle crash deaths and injuries.

First, wear your seat belt. On every ride, in every vehicle, no matter where you are sitting.

Using a seat belt is the easiest and simplest way to help prevent deaths and injuries when crashes happen.

The next way you can personally prevent motor vehicle crash deaths and injuries is by preventing the accident itself. Every year, the NTSB issues its Most Wanted List of transportation safety improvements. This year’s list features many of the behaviors that cause motor vehicle crashes—distraction, impairment, and fatigue – three behaviors you control.

Let me ask you a few questions. It’s all right, remember, I’m a doctor.

Have you ever fought sleep while behind the wheel of an automobile? How often have you gotten behind the wheel when you’ve been drinking? Do you take cell phone calls while driving? Do you know texting while driving is dangerous but do it anyway “because you’re so good at it”?

The fact is when you’re behind the wheel you need to be alert, awake, and attentive. Looking away for as little as two seconds puts you – and those around you – at risk of becoming a statistic.

Let me write you a few free prescriptions that just might save your life, or somebody else’s:

• Don’t get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking, no matter how much or how little.
• When you’re driving, leave the phone alone, hands free calls included, and
• No texting and driving. Ever. If you need to take or place a call, send a Tweet, reply to a text or check an email, pull over to a safe location, stop and park your vehicle, and then hammer out those 140 characters.

Advances in medicine have made diseases that killed millions a distant memory instead of a continuing reality. Treating the epidemic of crash related injuries and fatalities as the public health emergency that it is can help build a nation of safe, healthy communities. Take this doctor’s advice, and follow this prescription – the life you save may be your own.

Dr.Mary Pat McKay is the NTSB Chief Medical Officer.

Addressing Dangers on the Roads: This Is No April Fools!

By Robert L. Sumwalt

April is an important month for highway safety advocacy outreach. It’s a month where we—and many other government and safety advocacy groups—dramatically increase efforts to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities by raising awareness about several issues: distracted driving, alcohol-impaired driving, teen driving safety, and public health issues as they relate to transportation. If the unfortunate increase in roadway deaths in the first nine months of 2015 is any indication of what’s to come, we must take decisive action now to improve road safety.

Today, April 1, marks the kickoff of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and Alcohol Awareness Month. This month also features a National Public Health Awareness Week (April 4-10). Many states, such as California with its Teen Driver Safety Week, have also selected April to address the dangers associated with teen driving. The NTSB will be fully engaged in social media campaigns and other efforts to address the driving dangers highlighted by these awareness initiatives.

This time last year, I had the unique opportunity to lead a distraction roundtable with 40 of the leading transportation safety experts from around this nation. We all agreed that distraction is a growing and life-threatening problem in all modes of transportation; one year later, unfortunately, the threat from distraction continues to grow. To reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths, drivers and other operators must completely disconnect from an increasing variety of deadly distractions. To stop the epidemic on the roads, we all agreed that we need strong laws, good education, and visible enforcement.

Following last year’s roundtable, I posted several blogs highlighting the actions needed. For instance, in a blog about cognitive distraction and the hands-free myth, I talk about how many of us believe we can talk on a hands-free phone and remain engaged in the driving task. The science proves, however, that we can’t “multitask” and drive safely. (To view the transcript of the roundtable, visit http://www.ntsb.gov/news/events.)

To end the problem of distraction, we must collaborate. But, more importantly, we must take action. The National Safety Council recently, for example, announced an initiative for National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, called “Take Back Our Drive.” Their website highlights just why distracted driving and cell phone use is so dangerous, and offers resources for both employers and communities to help develop strategies and policies for combating distraction. In the end, we all have a responsibility to “Take Back Our Drive.”

I want to see my daughter and teens across the world live to see a year without a fatal motor vehicle crash. An increasing number of technological advances will help teens mitigate crashes, but today’s teens have to survive today’s driving environment by making smart choices and being informed about the dangers of driving. That’s why this month is so important for all of us to take a moment to spread the message and talk to our teens, with the following tips:

• Do not drive distracted. Completely disconnect from an increasing variety of deadly distractions, such as Smartphones, tablets, hands-free devices and any other technology that doesn’t support the driving task.
• Wear your seatbelt and require passengers to do the same. It is a fact that occupant restraints and protection systems save lives and reduce the number and severity injuries.
• Don’t drink and drive – and don’t use any other impairing drugs and drive. Using alcohol or drugs while operating in transportation can be deadly – and drugs include not only recreational drugs, but also many over-the-counter and prescription medicines.

Many of us advocating for improvements in transportation safety know all too well that most requested improvements have been inspired by a life, a family, a community forever altered by a tragedy. To combat the epidemic of road fatalities will require more than just a speech, activity or event — it will require united actions from within the research/advocacy community, the law enforcement community and the legislative community. That’s why many transportation safety professionals will gather at the annual Lifesavers Conference in California next week. The goal is to learn the next steps to reducing roadway fatalities and how better to partner and share the important highway safety messages.

Impact Teen Drivers and California Highway Patrol will also kick off the month with a press conference at a high school in Inglewood, CA. Theirs are just a few of the many safety outreach events going on this month.

Improving highway safety cannot wait another day; it starts and ends with all of us. Let April be that month to fully engage. We are still seeing too many tragedies on the roadways … and that’s no April fools!

For more information on NTSB safety outreach efforts or to join our efforts, contact the Safety Advocacy Division: safetyadvocacy@ntsb.gov.