DISTRACTED DRIVING
How big of a problem is distracted driving?
Distracted driving is one of the biggest dangers on our roads today. In fact, an estimated that 4,000 to 8,000 crashes occur daily across the country as a result of distracted driving (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).
Do motorists believe this is a problem?
Absolutely! In a recent AAA study, 35 percent of drivers said they feel less safe driving now compared to five years ago. The overwhelming reason cited for this shift in behavior was distracted driving. In fact, 80 percent of respondents in the study said they viewed distracted driving as a major threat to their safety.
How much does distracted driving increase a motorist’s crash risk?
All distracted driving increases a motorist’s crash risk. The more severe the distraction, the higher the crash risk.
Text messaging, for example, is one of the most dangerous distractions as it requires the motorist to look away from the road for several seconds at a time. Motorists who text message, were found to be 23 times more likely to be involved in a motor vehicle crash or narrowly avoid one, according to a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
What have other states done about this issue? How does Arizona compare?
Because distracted driving is such a broad issue, many states decided to tackle and enacted laws to address distractions that pose the biggest dangers to road users, such as text messaging.
Currently, 18 states and the District of Columbia have laws that address text messaging by all drivers. Two more states have laws that prohibit teens or other new drivers from texting while driving. Other than the city of Phoenix, there are no laws that restrict motorists from texting while driving in Arizona. AAA will work to pass laws banning text messaging by drivers in all 50 states by 2013.
Distracted Driving Resources
» AAA Aims to Ban Texting while Driving
» Map of U.S. Text Messaging Laws
» Text Messaging Ban Fact Sheet
» Top 10 Ways to Minimize Distractions
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