To kick off this year’s Drive Safely Work Week, the Flanders Group wanted to share some startling statistics about distracted driving. We hope that these findings will encourage conversations between your coworkers and families about the dangers of distracted driving, and hopefully, encourage you to drive safely, not only this week, but every week.
• In 2010, 3092 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver and an estimated additional 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.
• 18% of injury crashes in 2010 were reported as distraction-affected crashes.
• 11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.
• 40% of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger. (Pew)
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are 4 times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Monash University)
• Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. (VTTI)
• Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. (VTTI)
• Headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held use. (VTTI)
• Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%. (Carnegie Mellon)
Additional information such as further research can be found at www.distracted.gov. We hope that these statics make you think twice about utilizing distracting objects, such as cell phones, lipstick or food, while driving. Start the conversation, and be conscious of driving safely to work this week. Then, turn it into a habit and help keep the roads safe.
For more information on Drive Safely Work Week contact The Flanders Group today. We’re here to answer your insurance questions as well as help you understand how overall safety can benefit your company. Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook and subscribe to this blog for weekly updates on the issues that concern you.