The Dangers of Distracted Driving

             

The Dangers of Distracted Driving

What makes humans behave recklessly? As life gets more fast paced, people get in a hurry and they forget to consider their safety.  As health educators it is less important for us to figure out the why when it comes to risky behavior and focus more on the behavior change of preventing risky behaviors. We can look at the facts and try to reduce the negative statistics. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2.3 million adult drivers and passengers are treated in emergency departments yearly for injuries related to motor vehicle crashes (2011). The yearly cost of medical care for injuries associated with motor vehicle crashes exceeds $99 billion (CDC, 2011). Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for people in the 5-34 age range (CDC, 2011).

The U.S. News and World Report reviewed a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) Study from 2009 that identified the top five risky driving behaviors in 2009. The study found that 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near crashes happen as a result of some form of inattention within three seconds before the event (DeAngelis, & Muaddi, 2009). Examining the top five risky driving behaviors more closely will give a better idea of specific behaviors that remove a driver’s attention from the road and give health educators a better idea of what behaviors to target with interventions. The VTTI study revealed that drivers texting while operating a heavy vehicle were 23.2 times more likely to be involved in a crash than non-distracted drivers (DeAngelis, et al., 2009). Texting removes a driver’s eyes from the road for a longer period of time but it only takes a few seconds for distraction to cause a crash; this is why dialing on a cell phone is also one of the top five dangers (DeAngelis, et al., 2009). Dealing with your children is a risky behavior specific to the more experienced group of drivers. This distraction can remove focus from the road for minutes at a time. A non-age specific risky driving behavior is eating behind the wheel. This cannot only remove your focus and eyes from the road but in many cases your hands as well.

Other risky driving behaviors have been sighted in the research including speeding and impaired driving. It is important for drivers of all ages to play it safe when they get behind the wheel because accidents happen and you never know whom you may injure in the process.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Motor vehicle safety. Retrieved

            from http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/

DeAngelis, L., Muaddi, N. (2009). Five risky distracted driving behaviors. U.S. News

            and World Report. Retrieved from

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/5-Risky-Distracted-Driving-Behaviors/