Distracted Drivers Cause 80 Percent of Accidents

Photos

Do high-tech features save drivers from accidents or cause more due to driver distraction? (Photo: Rob Rothwell, American Auto Press)

Many top-line vehicles offer active and passive safety features allowing for much greater potential for accident avoidance or survival. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

Those who swat fles or reach to pick up rolling cell phones or coffee mugs are 9 times more likely to cause an accident or near accident, although those distracted by slotting a CD of Radioheads Killer Cars into the audio system or eating are also a danger. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

Driver inattention is the leading cause of accidents. (Photo: About.com)

Some cars are more capable of protecting occupants than others.  (Photo: About.com)

Even less expensive cars are much safer today, thanks to the inclusion of multiple airbags and other safety related features. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

Three Seconds is All You Need to Avoid an Accident

With all the new electronic gizmos modern cars come equipped with, its no wonder more and more drivers find themselves caught in precarious situations, eyes half focused on the road ahead and partially absorbed in the management of a complicated infotainment interface, its only a matter of time before an accident takes place.

Maybe some of the new safety features, such as multiple frontal, side-impact, side-curtain and front-knee airbags, plus ABS-equipped brakes with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist systems that apply the appropriate amount of braking pressure in reaction to the drivers reaction speed, electronic stability control to pull a wayward driver back on course, pre-crash systems to pull reclined seats back into a safer upright position while closing windows and the sunroof automatically, cruise control systems that keep track of vehicles ahead, radar sensing systems that watch out for vehicles to the sides, and the list goes on, put some drivers into a lull of complacency. Either way, a recent study finds that 8 out of 10 accidents occur because motorists arent paying full attention to the road ahead.

According to the $4.2 million USD study, released Thursday, April 20, in which analysts from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researched the driving patterns of 241 drivers, ranging from 18 to 73 years of age, were monitored over 13 months over a total of 42,000 hours in the northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. areas, via five cameras positioned inside and outside the vehicles, onboard computers, radar, global positioning systems in order to monitor driving behavior, a number of regular activities increased the opportunity for accident.

“Were spending a lot more time in our cars commuting, and were doing a lot more in cars, especially with new technologies,” stated Charlie Klauer, a principal researcher and author of the study. “We do a lot of things and we dont get caught. But in fact were just lucky and we get complacent.”

Number one on the list is the act of reaching for a moving object, such as swatting a fly or reaching down to the floor to pick up a rolling cell phone or coffee mug, 9 times more likely to cause an accident or near accident. Look at an object reduced the likelihood of an accident to a 3.7 times greater chance than paying full attention to driving, while applying makeup increased the rate of accident by 3 times, the same rate as the simple act of dialing a cell phone number. Interestingly, talking on a cell phone while driving showed no increase in the rate of accidents or near crashes, which would infer that if you pull over to dial the number and then proceed driving while on the phone youd reduce your chance of accident significantly. Nevertheless, at least three U.S. states and the District of Columbia have banned the use of cell phones without a hands-free device while driving.

“Anything and everything drivers could do, they did during the study,” commented Jacqueline Glassman, the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “This is a wake-up call to America to pay attention while driving.”

Amazingly, although all drivers were aware of being monitored by camera, some even drank beer while driving, one toked on a marijuana joint and a number of others repeatedly engaged in road rage incidents and regularly violated traffic laws. One young woman (19) hit a tree head-on while traveling at 20 mph. Complicating matters she wasnt wearing a seatbelt and therefore hit the windshield, after which she drove home without calling police, as is required by law.

According to a report, another 19-year-old woman became lost in a residential neighborhood and then while taking out her phone to call for directions a child rode into the street on a tricycle. She only managed to stop within 20 feet of hitting the child. In another incident, a different driver, who appeared inebriated, crossed over the center line and came close to running head-on into an oncoming vehicle, which careened over to the shoulder to avoid collision. Clearly theres a problem.

And while accidents involving firearms or medical and/or surgical complications, per se, get a lot of press due to political pressures, their impact on society on the whole is minimal in comparison. For instance, in a 2002 study on U.S. death rates and causes only 0.8 percent of accidental deaths were caused by firearms and 3.1 percent by medical or surgical complication. In comparison motor vehicle accidents (MVA) were responsible for 44.3 percent.

But is it getting worse or safer for motorists and their passengers? Actually, the chances of dying in a vehicle in 1953 were four times greater than in 2003, based on fatalities per mile driven in the United States. Improved roads, better medical care and stronger DUI laws are cited as differentiators, although improvements in the construction of vehicles, including the addition of passive and active safety features, especially a modern day vehicles ability to avoid an accident in the first place thanks to improved suspension components, probably make up the majority of difference. Other benefits most modern vehicles enjoy include power disc brakes, four-wheel antilock brake systems, radial-ply tires, penetration-resistant windshields, padded dashboards, collapsible steering columns, structural reinforced passenger compartments supported by integrated crumple zones, three-point safety belts, multiple airbags, and even sun visors are noted as making a difference. As already mentioned, newer technologies including radar, camera equipment and sensors could improve accident avoidance even further.

Road fatalities in the U.S. dropped from 52,627 in 1970 to 43,200 last year, while in approximately the same period road fatalities in Germany were reduced from 21,000 to 6,949 per year. The study says that a significant part of the difference is attributed to Electronic Stability Control (ECS), which is found in half of German cars, but only 6 percent of those in the United States at the time of the study, three years ago. ESC has increased within the SUV segment recently, and a reduction in the number of accidents due to loss of control should follow in North American markets as well. Just the same, it could get a lot better.

After all, with MVAs remaining the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 5 and 35, according to the study, the result of 5.9 million accidents, 43,200 deaths and 2.7 million injuries, plus a U.S. national accident cost of $231 billion in 2005, the public and insurance companies are pushing for continual improvement.

On a side note, the death rate per driven mile is more than 35 times higher for motorcyclists than for the drivers of four-wheel (or higher) vehicles. Even higher is the per-mile death rate for pedal-powered bicyclists. According to government statistics, “two-thirds of bicycle fatalities occur due to traffic violations and 90 percent involve collisions with motor vehicles.”

According to the Virginia Tech study, approximately 7.5 percent of monitored drivers were involved in multiple accidents during the 13-month test period, while young drivers were four times more likely to be involved in an MVA - food for thought for the next time your teenager argues about how unfair age-based insurance rates are.

Important to note, not every accidents that involved a rear-end collision were due to inattention, with about 22 percent caused by drowsiness. Researchers blamed sleep deprivation for the cause of many daytime MVAs, where drowsiness was involved. Oddly, the rates for daytime drowsiness are higher than for nighttime, with the study stating, “The risks of driving drowsy during the day may be slightly higher than at night due to traffic density.”

As far as single-vehicle accidents go, aggressive driving was a major factor, about the same as drowsiness, but in the end the leading cause of MVAs is inattention, at about 65 percent, incidentally occurring about three seconds before the crash.

In coming years, it will be interesting to see how new technologies play an even greater role in driver safety. While it will be difficult to stop inattentive drivers from practicing unsafe driving habits, a number of impressive safety advancements can really make the difference, such as sensors that warn of side-by-side traffic when attempting to change lanes, radar systems that warn of rearward traffic approaching at high speed, etc. The problem is, just like when ABS, ESC, and other lifesaving technologies first arrived on cars, only high-end vehicles get the latest goodies. Therefore, spending more, if possible, will result in a greater chance in avoiding or surviving an accident. In time the more popular safety features will trickle down to less expensive models, and all drivers and passengers will benefit, but until then government and safety organization awareness campaigns are the best way to get the word out.

You, the informed driver, might want to think twice, however, before you attempt to shoo that mosquito out of your car window or reach into the back seat to retrieve your laptop bag while driving down the highway, as you now know its a method for disaster.