“Don’t drive intexticated” – This is AAA’s main message this year during April’s National Distracted Driving Awareness month. According to the Association simply having a phone conversation can quadruple a drivers risk of a car crash, while texting can increase the risk factor by eight.
“Even if drivers perform some of these tasks illegally while stopped at a red light or stop sign, once you start moving, and even after you stop using the technology, your mind is still not fully focused on the task of driving for up to 27 seconds,” said Mary Maguire, Director, Public and Government Affairs at AAA Northeast. “This is a dangerous situation that could lead to inattention blindness, where you’re looking at the road but not seeing what’s in front of you, putting other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians at risk.”
Drivers need to be vigilant after a year with reduced
As traffic begins to pick up speed again across the country, drivers need to be vigilant in keeping their focus in the road. Twenty-three people in Massachusetts died in distracted driving crashes in 2019, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Moreover, MassDOT notes that 8% of drivers 15 to 19 years old who were involved in fatal crashed were reported as being distracted. Nationally, distracted driving crashes killed 3,142 people, an average of 9 deaths per day. That number was up 10 percent from the year before (2,839 deaths in 2018).
Distracted driving remains a growing traffic safety problem, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s 2019 Traffic Safety Culture Index. The survey found most drivers–96 percent–believe typing or reading on a hand-held cellphone while driving to be very or extremely dangerous. Despite that, 39 percent admit to reading, and 29 percent admit to typing on a smartphone at least once while behind the wheel within the last month.
The need to understand the “hangover effect” from interacting with technology
In Massachusetts, using a hand-held device is illegal while driving–including while stopped at a red light or stop sign. But this survey suggests drivers often hold and handle their phones while stopped on the roadway, and aren’t aware of the “hangover effect” which comes from interacting with technology while behind the wheel. AAA researchers find drivers can stay distracted and disoriented for up to 27 seconds after using smartphones or voice-to-text vehicle infotainment systems to send text messages, make phone calls or update social media. At 25 mph, a driver could travel the length of nearly three football fields in that 27 second span.
