Click It or Ticket: Seat Belt Use

I saw in my local paper that the Click It or Ticket campaign is under way this week so I thought I’d post some information about seat belt use.  Thankfully, according to a National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration 2010 survey, seat belt use has been increasing steadily since 1994, accom­panied by a steady decline in percent of unrestrained pas­senger vehicle occupant fatalities during daytime (see figure 2).   

The 2010 survey also found the following:

Seat belt use for occupants traveling during weekdays increased significantly from 83 percent in 2009 to 85 percent in 2010.

Seat belt use continued to be higher in the States in which vehicle occupants can be pulled over solely for not using seat belts (“primary law States”) as compared with the States with weaker enforcement laws (“secondary law States”) or without seat belt laws. (see figure 1)

Seat belt use for occupants in rural areas increased significantly from 81 percent in 2009 to 83 percent in 2010.

Seat belt use for occupants traveling on expressways increased significantly from 89 percent in 2009 to 91 percent in 2010.

Figure 1. 

States With Primary Enforcement Seat Belt Laws*
Alabama		Alaska	Arkansas	California
Connecticut		Delaware	District of Columbia	Florida
Georgia		Hawaii	Illinois	Indiana
Iowa		Kentucky	Louisiana	Maine
Maryland		Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi
New Jersey		New Mexico	New York	North Carolina
Oklahoma		Oregon	South Carolina	Tennessee
Texas	Washington		Wisconsin
* States with laws in effect as of May 31, 2010. The District of Columbia is included in the table. Figure 2.

So what all this is saying is:  Buckle Up!

Teen Driving Safety Tips

I just read an article in my local paper about teen drivers and how accidents increase during the summer months. I thought I'd share some safety tips with you. These are useful to all drivers, not just teens.

Before you start to drive:

- Put on your seat belt and make sure all your passengers buckle up, too.

- Never try to fit more people in the car than you have seat belts for them to use. Most states have laws requiring seat belt use, at least by the passengers in the front seats.

- Maintain your car. Bald tires, a slipping transmission, bad brakes, or a hesitant engine could lead to accidents.

- Don't drink and drive, and don't ride with anyone who has been drinking. Don’t be afraid to call parents or friends to take you home if you need a ride.

- Don't take drugs or drive if you've taken any. Don't ride with anyone who has been using drugs. Even some over the counter drugs can make you drowsy. Check label for warnings.

- Use a designated driver when going out for a night on the town with friends. This person does not drink at all and has the responsibility of getting people home safely

While on the road:

- Obey the speed limits--going too fast gives you less time to stop or react. Excess speed is one of the main causes of teenage accidents.

- Obey stop signs and traffic lights -- don't run yellow or red lights.

- Use turn signals to indicate your intention to turn or to change lanes.

- Don't blast the radio, CD, or MP3 player. You might miss hearing a siren or a horn that could warn you of possible trouble.

- Don't fiddle with the radio or your iPod while you are driving. Doing so will take your attention away from the road. Pull over if you have to.

- Don't talk on the cell phone, text, put on make-up, comb your hair, or eat while driving. People who talk on cell phones while driving are four times more likely to have an accident.

- Be aware of the weather, traffic congestion, and road conditions – stay alert!

New Study about Teens Involved in Traffic Accidents

I came across this press release from State Farm about a study involving teen drivers and I thought it was worth sharing:

Philadelphia, April 11, 2011 - A recent study by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance Companies® hones in on the most common errors teen drivers make that lead to a serious crash. Teen drivers are involved in fatal crashes at four times the rate of adults. The findings were published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Researchers analyzed a nationally-representative federal database of more than 800 crashes involving teen drivers and identified a few common "critical errors" that are often one of the last in a chain of events leading up to a crash. Seventy-five percent of these crashes were due a critical teen driver error, with three common errors accounting for nearly half of all serious crashes. Among crashes with a teen driver error:

- Twenty-one percent occurred due to lack of scanning that is needed to detect and respond to hazards.
- Twenty-one percent occurred due to going too fast for road conditions, (for example, driving too fast to respond to others, or to successfully navigate a curve)
- Twenty percent occurred due to being distracted by something inside or outside the vehicle.

The researchers note that environmental conditions, such as poor weather, vehicle malfunction, aggressive driving, or physical impairments such as drowsy driving were not primary factors in most crashes. "This study helps dispel the myth that most teen crashes are due to aggressive driving or thrill-seeking," said Allison Curry, Ph.D., lead author and a researcher at CHOP's Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP). “Promoting safe driving skills is as important as preventing problem behaviors."

By getting very specific about the types of teen driver errors that are most likely to precede a crash, this study makes it possible to target policies, programs, driver education and other strategies to reduce those critical errors and prevent crashes from happening.

"Laws and policies that address distractions by limiting the number of peer passengers and prohibiting cell phone use among novice drivers will help reduce crash rates, but will only address part of the problem," says study co-author Dennis Durbin, MD, MSCE, who co-directs CIRP. "Many crashes will still occur due to the inability of teen drivers to detect and respond to a hazard in time. Formal teen driver training and parent-teen practice drives should focus on building scanning and hazard awareness skills."

Scanning involves observing the surroundings far ahead of the vehicle and side-to-side, not just immediately in front of the hood. It is a higher-level skill that experienced drivers develop over time. The study authors note that developing effective ways to teach this skill sooner in the learning-to-drive process could reduce teen crash risk. Pilot tests of this type of training have shown promise in increasing hazard detection and response skills among novice drivers.

"This research gets us one step closer to understanding why teens crash and what we can do to help prevent future crashes," says Cindy Garretson, Director of Auto Technology Research. "Strong graduated driver licensing laws, along with educational programs that are focused on common teen driver errors, will help keep our roads safer for everyone."

Texting While Driving

The ABC program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition just featured a family from Texas who lost a daughter in a one-car accident that was caused by texting while driving. Alex Brown was a beautiful young teenager who made a foolish choice that proved to be fatal. She was on her way to school one day and she was texting as she drove down a rural road. She wound up going off the road and her truck flipped when she hit a ditch. Sadly, she was not wearing a seat belt and she was thrown from the vehicle.

After watching that program, I decided to post some information on texting while driving. All age groups are guilty of all kinds of distracted driving. However, 16 percent of all drivers under the age of 20 who were involved in fatal accidents were reportedly distracted while driving. (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration--NHTSA)

Of those drivers reportedly distracted during a fatal crash, the 30-to-39-year-old drivers were the group with the greatest proportion distracted by cell phones. Cell phone distraction was reported for 24 percent of the 30-to-39-year-old distracted drivers in fatal crashes. (FARS)

Here are some other statistics:

- 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).

- In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction (16% of total fatalities). (Fatality Analysis Reporting System--FARS)

- Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)

State Farm sponsored a study last year that found that fewer teenagers think they will be have an accident or be killed while texting versus drinking while driving. The poll was conducted by Harris Interactive and the findings are in conflict with actual academic research.

Whereas 55 percent of teens ages 14-17, who either have their license or intend to get a license, believe that drinking and driving can be fatal, only 36 percent believe that they can be killed in an accident if they regularly text while driving. The survey also showed that 63 percent of the teens strongly agree that they could get into an accident while texting, as opposed to 78 percent who strongly agree that they can get into an accident if they drove after drinking.

An interesting finding in the survey was that teens who admitted to texting while driving were less likely to think they could get into an accident than teens who have never texted while driving (52 percent of those who text and 78 percent of those who have never texted.) For the complete report, visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/State-Farm-Teens-Texting-2010-09-20.pdf.

Since there is a disconnect between what teens think and what reality is, it is important for parents to talk to their children about the risks involved with texting while driving. Parents need to set rules for their children when they are driving a vehicle.

The National Safety Council suggests these rules:

- When you're on the road, you have to stay off the phone. That means no texting, no checking for messages, no reading emails and no talking.

- Only use a cell phone when the car is safely parked.

- If you find it hard to resist the urge to check the phone, try putting the cell phone in the glove compartment.

LEGISLATION:

30 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam ban text messaging for all drivers. Twelve of these laws were enacted in 2010 alone.

8 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving.

Note:

Primary law prohibits ALL types of drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. A primary law means that an officer can ticket the driver for the offense without any other traffic offense taking place.

Secondary law bans text messaging for ALL types of drivers. A secondary law means an officer can only give you a ticket if you have been pulled over for another driving violation.

For a complete list of states and their laws regarding cell phones/texting, visit http://www.distraction.gov/state-laws/index.html

Statistics from the NHTSA available at http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts/index.html

Driving While Drunk, Drugged or Distracted--Impaired Driving

This is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. I want to share some information and links, not only on drunk and drugged driving, but also driving while distracted, which is also a serious problem.

Here is some information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on impaired driving:

Impaired driving is dangerous and is the cause of more than half of all car crashes. It means operating a motor vehicle while

- Affected by alcohol
- Affected by illegal or legal drugs
- Too sleepy
- Distracted, such as using a cell phone or texting
- Having a medical condition which affects your driving

For your safety and the safety of others, do not drive while impaired. Have someone else drive you or take public transportation when you cannot drive. If you need to take a call or send a text message, pull over.

If you doubt that impaired driving is a problem, here are some statistics that illuminate how serious the problem really is:

Some statistics on distracted driving:
In 2008, almost 20 percent of all crashes in the year involved some type of distraction. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - NHTSA).

Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. (NHTSA)

The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.

Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

Some statistics on drugged/drunk driving:
In 2008, 11,773 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

Of the 1,347 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2008, about one out of every six (16%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver. (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are often used in combination with alcohol. (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

I found a great publication from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration with suggestions for party planning in order to have a safe holiday season. Check out this link: Party Planning Tips for an Alcohol-Safe and Drug-Free Holiday Season to Remember

Here are some links to some other useful web sites:

Distractions in Everyday Driving (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety) – PDF

Impaired Driving (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Distracted Driving Facts and Statistics (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

ABCs of BAC: A Guide to Understanding Blood Alcohol Concentration and Alcohol Impairment (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) - PDF

Drugged Driving (National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Some Medications and Driving Don't Mix (Food and Drug Administration)