Distracted driving can lead to major trouble

  • Published
  • By Chris Tirey
  • 88th Air Base Wing Safety Office
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  Even a brief distraction for a driver can have catastrophic consequences.

A vehicle traveling at 60 miles per hour covers 176 feet in two seconds, nearly the length of five school busses end to end.

The U.S. Department of Transportation provides some valuable information on the subject:

There are three main types of distraction:
■ Visual -- taking your eyes off the road;
■ Manual -- taking your hands off the wheel;
■ Cognitive -- taking your mind off what you're doing.

Distracted driving is any nondriving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.

While all distractions can endanger drivers' safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.

Other distracting activities include:
■ Using a cell phone;
■ Eating and drinking;
■ Talking to passengers;
■ Grooming;
■ Reading, including maps;
■ Using a navigation system;
■ Watching a video;
■ Changing the radio station, CD or Mp3 player.

Research on distracted driving reveals some surprising facts:
■ Slightly more than 20 percent of all crashes in the year involved some type of distraction,
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
■ Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction- related fatal crashes.
■ The age group with the next greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the 20 to 29 years old.
■ Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
■ Using a cell phone while driving, whether it's hand-held or handsfree, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit
of .08 percent, the University of Utah reports.

Learn more about distracted driving by visiting the U.S. Department of Transportation website dedicated to the subject: www.distraction.gov