Decide to Drive: A Look at Distracted Driving

Decide to Drive:

A Look at Distracted Driving

By: Sara Amini-Rad

Distracted driving has become a leading problem in the United States, mainly among the teenage and early adult ages this includes mothers. Texting is usually the first thought when discussing this issue, but, distracted driving is more than using the telephone while driving. This blog will look at the different forms of distracted driving and what they mean. Distracted driving is such an issue because the same demographic who is affected by this, also choose not to wear seat belts, in many instances. This behavior affects the morbidity and mortality of said demographic, due to traffic accidents.

            According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration distracted driving is “any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving” (EndDD , 2015). This means that distracted driving is more than texting, it is changing the radio station, eating, reaching for a drink, tending to children, looking at a map and even smoking.  According to End Distracted Driving (EndDD) (2015), there are three types of distracted driving; manual, visual, and cognitive. Manual distraction is when the driver’s hands have to physically leave the steering wheel in order to accomplish what is being done. For example, when changing the radio station, the driver’s hand must leave the steering wheel in order to the knob or buttons. Visual distraction is when the driver’s eyes leave the road in order to tend to the distraction. An example of this is a mother turning her head to the side to talk to her child behind her. Cognitive distraction is when the driver is thinking about anything else besides the road ahead and the traffic around them. An example of this is a tired driver who has been driving for many hours and begins to daydream.

 The reason that texting is the biggest offender in distracted driving arena is because texting violates all three of the mentioned types of distraction. The driver is manually holding a phone, instead of the wheel. The driver is also looking at the phone to text, instead of the road to drive. Finally, the driver is thinking about the text and the conversation rather than focusing on the road. 

According to the Missouri High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2013), an alarming 46% of high school students acknowledged texting or e-mailing while driving in the past thirty days. During the same period only 9% of this age group admitted to using a seat belt. During this same time the Missouri Department of Transportation finds data that shows this age group has seventy-three (73) traffic fatalities due to inattentive drivers (Missouri Department of Transportation, 2015). These lives, ages 15-25, made up 23% of the total lives lost, due to inattentive drivers, between 2011 and 2013. Of these fatalities, between the ages of 15 and 25, 33% were not wearing a seat belt during the time of the accident. These statistics can be changed. Lives do not have to be lost needlessly. All that has to change is driver behavior behind the wheel. Decide to Drive campaign is as simple as one, two, three. Buckle up, put down the device, and focus. For more information about distracted driving or seat belt use, please see any of the sources below.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Youth Online: High School YRBS. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Results.aspx?TT=C&OUT=1&SID=HS&QID=H12&LID=MO&YID=2013&LID2=&YID2=&COL=S&ROW1=N&ROW2=N&HT=C1,C8&LCT=LL&FS=S1&FR=R1&FG=G1&FSL=S1&FRL=R1&FGL=G1&PV=&TST=False&C1=&C2=&QP=G&DP=1&VA=CI&CS=Y&SYID=&EYID=&SC=DEFAULT&SO=ASC

EndDD . (2015). Learn Facts about Distracted Driving. Retrieved from Enddd.org: http://www.enddd.org/the-facts-about-distracted-driving/?gclid=COSYwpnQ5ccCFQqQaQod8RMBZQ

Governors Highway Safety Association. (2015). Distracted Driving. Retrieved from Governors Highway Safety Association: http://www.ghsa.org/html/issues/distraction/tips.html

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. (2013). Data: Emergency Room: Residents of St. Charles County. Retrieved from Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: http://health.mo.gov/data/mica/mica/er.php?&row=6&col=7&sort=0&geo=3&configfile=configs/config_er.php&screen_id=&bw=0&seladj=3&uadj=1&prob=0&menu=0&dwn=0&flip=0&pasrc=1&rc=4&sx=3&pa=9&yr%5b%5d=2013&ct%5b%5d=183&pasag=1&ag=2&et=9&ca%5b%5d=537&pasca=3

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. (2013). Data: Emergency Room: Residents of St. Charles County. Retrieved from Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: http://health.mo.gov/data/mica/mica/er.php?&row=6&col=7&sort=0&geo=3&configfile=configs/config_er.php&screen_id=&bw=0&seladj=3&uadj=1&prob=0&menu=0&dwn=0&flip=0&pasrc=1&rc=4&sx=3&pa=9&yr%5b%5d=2013&ct%5b%5d=183&pasag=1&ag=2&et=9&ca%5b%5d=538&pasca=3

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. (2014). Injuries: Residents of Missouri. Retrieved from Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: http://health.mo.gov/data/mica/mica/injury.php?pasrc=1&pasca=1&pasag=1&pasil=1&dwn=0&flip=0&menu=0&uadj=1&configfile=configs%2Fconfig_injury.php&screen_id=&bw=0&sort=0&row=7&col=1&rc=4&et=9&sx=3&ag=6&pt=3&inb=6&dp=0&yr%5B%5D=2013&ct%5B%5D=929&ca%5B%5D=08&

Missouri Department of Transportation. (2015, January 9). Total Fatalities by Age and Target Area. Retrieved from Missouri Department of Transportation: http://www.modot.org/BluePrintReports/Inattentive%20Driver%20Involved2011%20-%202013-en-us.pdf

Soltan, L. (2015). Safety Tips to Avoid Texting while Driving. Retrieved from Digital Responsibility: http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/safety-tips-to-avoid-distracted-driving/

St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment . (2014). Maternal Child Health Services Contract Work Plan. St. Charles .