by Judith Kanne, RN. BA
When it comes to talking, texting, and driving, the message is clear. Fatality and injury numbers are staggering. According to the AAA there are between 4,000 and 8,000 daily crashes related to our country’s distracted drivers.[1] Research (2008) shows nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver. And more than half a million people were injured.[2]
Unfortunately, the real size of the problem may not be apparent; as law enforcement has to identify the role distracted driving plays following a collision.[3] For those who have lost loved ones while someone was distracted, this is an epidemic in need of legislation and increased public awareness. Many states are serious about the crisis and Illinois is one of them.
Going forward, it is illegal for drivers in Illinois to use a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, or portable computer while driving. In fact, by law drivers cannot send or read text messages instant messages or e-mails while operating their vehicles. Illinois lawmakers are hoping this law, when combined with steep fines, will help curb the problem. In the past, legislation has worked well with other campaigns, such as “Click It or Ticket” and “Zero Tolerance.”
Utah and Alabama focused on safety summits last year. Utah’s Zero Fatalities Safety Summit was an opportunity for officials and advocates to share experiences, opportunities, and successes in improving community safety. Alabama welcomed U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood as a featured speaker at their first annual summit in Birmingham.
Another concern facing all communities is the distracted teen driver, not just the adult. According to a June 2009 Nielsen report How Teens Use Media, it’s clear the texting trend is increasing. “The average number of texts has gone up 566% in just two years, far surpassing the average number of calls, which has stayed nearly steady.”[4]
“Many teens understand the risks of texting behind the wheel,” states Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist at the Internet & American Life Project and co-author of a recent distracted driving report, “but the desire to stay connected is so strong for teens and their parents that safety sometimes takes a backseat to staying in touch with friends and family.”[5]
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the experts are working on the problem. In CDC’s 8 Danger Zones for Teens Behind the Wheel, one of eight zones somberly addresses teen multi-tasking. “Nearly 8 out of 10 crashes happen within 3 seconds of a driver becoming distracted.”[6] And according to Kathleen Stassen Berger, PhD, there’s another dimension to any teen problem. Young people are convinced that unlike other mortals, they will not be hurt by fast driving [or attempting other dangerous activities].[7]
But distracted driving is dangerous and it includes more than texting. “[It] is any non-driving activity a person engages in while operating a motor vehicle. Such activities have the potential to distract the person from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.”[8] Secondary distractions include eating, drinking, conversing with passengers, as well as interaction with in-vehicle technologies and portable electronic devices.3
In the fall of 2009, Secretary LaHood hosted a two-day conference calling attention to the thousands of motorists who are not watching where they’re going. “Every single time [someone] takes their eyes or their focus off the road – even for just a few seconds – they put their lives and the lives of others in danger,” stated Secretary LaHood to the conference attendees,[9] as family members shared their tragic stories. Jennifer Smith was there.
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Smith’s mother was killed by a driver who was talking on his cell phone. Smith initiated an organization, Focus Driven: Advocates for Cell-Free Driving, calling attention to the problem. When she told her mom’s story on Oprah’s show (and National Public Radio), she said she was looking for an organization similar to MADD and couldn’t find one. MADD’s success came from changing statistics into real people; personalizing the consequences of driving under the influence. Why not try this approach with distracted driving?
On January 12, 2010, Secretary LaHood and National Safety Council President Janet Froetscher announced the creation of FocusDriven, the first national nonprofit organization devoted specifically to raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. The group is led by Smith. The board is comprised of family members who have lost loved ones at the hands of a distracted driver.[10]
Throughout history, families have taken serious matters into their own hands. Two and a half year-old Morgan Pena’s mom wrote a heart-wrenching story to NPR’s Car Talk.[11] She lost Morgan to someone using a cell phone. He broadsided the car where little Morgan was thought to be “safe” in her car seat. Morgan was dead within hours. The driver received a $50 fine and two traffic tickets. And there’s Joe Teater who is supposed to be alive, but he was killed by a driver running a red light while she was engrossed in a cell phone conversation.
CDC’s Dr. Ileana Arias defines today’s motorist. “We are [all] busy individuals who feel pressed to multi-task even when we’re on the road. We live in a demanding world,” she states on her CDC Director’s View Blog. “We try to get as much done as we can during our limited time. Sometimes the community pays a high price for that.” [12] Automobile experts agree.
Famed Car Talk brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi are supporting federal legislation to tackle the problem. “Don’t take our word for it,” they state in an open letter on their website.[13] [Many people have died] “… at the hands of a driver who was chatting on the phone while steering thousands of pounds of deadly steel.” But there are no easy answers for the legislators when it comes to life, death, and disseminating smiles.
When Secretary LaHood appeared on The Comedy Network’s program The Daily Show with host Jon Stewart in December, 2009, he was focused on safety as the number one priority at the DOT and just how imperative it is to make changes. Behavioral changes work when we wear seatbelts and call for designated drivers. His message was as serious as the problem.
While Stewart chatted about the concept of a cell-phone shaped hamburger for those drivers who want to talk and eat, Secretary LaHood continued to be a man on a mission. Without even a smile, he comfortably reminded Stewart’s audience that “distracted driving is unsafe, irresponsible, and in a split second, its consequences can be devastating.”[14] There’s nothing funny about that.
Judi Kanne is a contractor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a public health nurse, health educator, and health communication specialist. Since the early 1990s, she has supported CDC’s global, environmental, emergency, and workforce areas as a writer, editor, and communicator. In addition, she has created public health presentations and educational materials for over 20 years.
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1 AAA Exchange. State Distracted Driving laws. Available online:
http://www.aaaexchange.com/main/Default.asp?CategoryID=3&SubCategoryID=35
2 Department of Transportation, Office of Public Affairs Press Release, September 30, 2009. Available
online: http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot15509.htm
3 An Examination of Driver Distraction as Recorded in NHTSA Databases. NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, September 2009. Available online: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/
4 How Teens Use Media. A Nielsen report on the myths and realities of teen media trends … June 2009. Available online at: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/reports/nielsen_howteensusemedia_june09.pdf
5 Overview: Teens and Distracted Driving, by Mary Madden, Amanda Lenhart. November 16, 2009. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Available online:
http://pewinternet.org/reports/2009/Teens-and-%20Distracted-Driving.aspx, accessed January 1, 2010.
6 Handing your Teen the Car Keys – Are you confident or Concerned? 8 Danger Zones. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of
Unintentional Injury Prevention. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/ParentsAreTheKey/danger/index.html,
accessed January 8, 2010.
7 Berger, K. S. (2008). Developing Person Through the Life Span (7th ed.). NY: Worth Publishers. 392.
8 Statistics and Facts, Distraction.gov. Available online: http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts, accessed January 8, 2010
9 Department of Transportation, Live Webcast, September 30, October 1, 2009. Available online: http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/rita/090830/default.cfm?id=11551&type=flv&test=0&live=0
10 This group is the outgrowth of the last fall’s Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) summit.
11Patti Pena’s letter to Car Talk, available online: www.cartalk.com/content/features/Morgan-Pena/letter.html
12 CDC Injury Center: Director’s View Blog. Available online.
http://blogs.cdc.gov/ncipc/2009/02093/driving-demands-our-full-attention/, accessed December 18, 2009.
13 Protecting its people: Let our government do its job. Available online: http://www.cartalk.com/conten/features/Drive-now/cellcommentary.html
14 Comedy Central, The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart. December 15, 2009 appearance. Available on video at: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-15-2009/ray-lahood, accessed on December 18, 2009.
