By the Overview of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Driver Distraction program, distracted is a subset of inattention, which means the drivers focus is on something other than the initial activity. This could also include fatigue and the physical and emotional condition of the driver. Since 2005, the number of car crashes have decreased by almost 10,000. The number of deaths in these accidents have also decreased by around 10,000 people. Out of the 30,979 car crashes that occurred in 2009, 16% of those accidents were due to distracted driving. Also, 16% of the deaths were due to distracted driving. The accidents that were caused by distracted driving were broken down even further, to age group and type of vehicle. Drivers between the ages of 20 and 29 were the most likely to be involved in the car accidents caused by distracted driving. Twenty one percent of these drivers got into accidents due to their distraction being disturbed by a cellular device. Drivers between the ages of 30 and 39 were most likely to get into a car accident while being distracted by a cell phone than any other age group. In 2009, there were over five million crashes, whether they were fatal, injury, or property damage only. Out of those five million crashes, nearly one million of them were due to distractions. In order for these numbers to drop, the driver distractions need to stop. Attributes to the distractions are coming from other passengers, by moving items in the car, talking or dialing on a cell phone, texting, or adjusting other devices in the car. The distractions are not limited to these few, they are nearly unlimited. A stand against distracted driving has begun in Western New York with WGRZ’s Pledge 2 Hang Up. Other drivers in the area have signed the pledge, now it’s up to you to do the same.
all statistics were gathered from http://www.distraction.gov/research/PDF-Files/Distracted-Driving-2009.pdf
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