Dear Mr. Dad: Almost every day, I see people behind the wheel talking on cell phones, and to be honest, it scares me. How big a problem is this and is there anything we can about it?
A: Distracted driving is a huge problem. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, https://www.nhtsa.gov), there are three distinct types of distraction: visual (taking your eyes off the road), manual (taking your hands off the wheel), and cognitive (taking your mind off of driving). Under the best of circumstances, most of us are distracted in one way or another (usually cognitively) a lot of the time we’re behind the wheel—we’re listing to the radio, talking with others, or just thinking. Cell phones are especially problematic, though, because they combine more than one type of distraction.
During the day, 660,000 drivers are using cell phones while driving, including more than 540,000 who are holding a handheld device to their ear (but not including drivers who are texting or are distracted by something else, like changing channels on the radio or trying to find something in the glove compartment or purse.) Distracted drivers are more likely to be young (ages 16-24) and female. In 2015 (statistics are always a few years behind), 391,000 people were injured and 3,477 were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. To make matters worse, those numbers are going up every year.
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Photo by Alexandre Boucher on Unsplash
