Distracted driving is when an activi takes away a driver's attention while driving. These activities can be:
Visual - taking your eyes off the road
Manual - taking your hands off the wheel
Cognitive - taking your mind off driving (CDC, 2024).
Texting while driving is a common distraction. Either sending or reading a text can take someoone's eyes off the road for five seconds. If someone is driving 55 MPH, the distance driven can be the legnth of a football field (NHTSA, n.d.). Other examples of activities that can be distracting while driving are talking on a cell phone, using a GPS, or eating.
In 2019, more than 3,100 people were killed and approximately 424,000 people werre injured in the United States in motor vehicle accidents involving a distracted driver (CDC, 2024). This equates to nine people in the United States every day being killed in a motor vehicle accident involving a distracted driver (CDC, 2024). When looking at motor vehicle accidents involving distracted drivers, there is a higher percentage of drivers ages 15 - 20 than those 21 and older. Of fatal crashes among drivers 15 - 20 years old, 9% were distracted at the time of the crashes (CDC, 2024). When surveyed, 39% of high school students stated that they had either texted or emailed at least once in the past 30 days while driving (CDC, 2024).
There are ways to prevent distracted driving. There are many states that enacted laws in order to prevent distracted driving to include banning texting while driving, hands free laws and limiting the number of young passangers riding with teen drivers (CDC, 2024). Physical alerts, such as rumble strips, are installed in some states in order to alert individuals when drowsy or distracted (CDC, 2024). Federally, the United States Department of Transportation released the National Roadway Safety Strategy in 2022 to support vehicle technology to detect distracted driving. President Obama issued an Executive Order in 2009 that prohibits federal employees either texting while driving a government owned vehivle or while on government business. Additionally, commercial vehicle drivers were banned from texting while driving in 2010 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (CDC, 2024).
In order to learn state laws concerning distracting driving where you live, visit the Governor's Highway Safety Association. The National Highway Travel Safety Administration provides education concerning distracted driving, develop campaigns and Public Service Announcements, partner with states and local police to enforece laws (NHTSA, n.d.).
CDC. (2024). Distracted Driving. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/distracted-driving/prevention/index.html
NHTSA. (N.D.) Distracted Driving. National Highway Travel Safety Administration. Retrieved from https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving