Warning: this is a rant. Recently I was on my way to meet a physician for coffee to talk about my work in social media and health. While driving in front of Children’s Hospital, I saw a car going more slowly than I’d expect, changing the traffic patterns. We stopped at the light, it turned green, and she didn’t move. I looked over and saw her punching away at her phone, composing a text message. I laid on the horn. I pointed to her phone. I screamed! She looked surprised and confused that she’d done anything dangerous. I think she wondered why I was fanatical. You’re 23 times more likely to have a crash while texting and driving compared to someone who is simply driving. I wish I could have mentioned that, too.
No one was hurt, no one was injured that morning. Yet it appeared the last thing this driver was thinking about was the road, the traffic light, the children and their parents crossing at the walk while entering and leaving the hospital. Imagine.
Texting while driving was responsible for 16,000 deaths in a 6 year period. Over 5,000 lives were lost in 2009 alone and almost 1/2 million were injured in accidents related to distracted driving.
You know what I mean though, right? You can spot those text-ers on the road. We’ve all been behind someone on a side street or the freeway watching them swerve, veer, or not follow traffic flow. Or think about the drivers who turn abruptly without using a turn signal. And when we look over, we see they’re on the phone or punching away at a keyboard. Often, these insidious choices are obvious and for all to see.
If you think you’re a fantastic multi-tasker, think again. Texting and driving kills (video).
I’ve had it with people who are still using their phones to text and drive at the same time. Oprah and I couldn’t agree more: End Distracted Driving now.
How are we going to make this change? How will we get people off their phones and back to the road? How many children and adults will die or be injured first?
I don’t think fear works, and unfortunately a ranting blog post may not be a perfect strategy either. It’s possible focusing on safety isn’t the answer. As one safety researcher (pediatrician) said to me, “Maybe there is something psychologically protective in NOT worrying about safety all the time.” She went on to postulate that talking about safety may not be the best angle to take to improve this. That spending our energy on figuring out what factors actually DO impact behavior may be better (changing normative beliefs or law enforcement fines).
Yes worrying all the time isn’t so good for us, either. So how do we get people to put their phone in the backseat, deep in their purse, or in the off mode while in the car?
I contend texting and driving is a new inconvenient truth: distracted driving is a selfish, dangerous, and morally unjust act. You simply put others (in and out of your car) at risk. Data from 2009 studying real drivers backs up my claim. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute studied the effect of distracted driving using naturalistic driving studies (sophisticated cameras and instrumentation in vehicles) with drivers in cars and trucks on the outcome of a crash or near-crash event. They studied drivers for more than 6 million miles of driving. Here’s the skivvy:
When in a truck:
- You’re 23.2 times more likely to crash or have a near crash event if you’re text messaging and driving.
- You’re 6.7 times more likely to risk a crash or near crash is you’re using or reaching for electronic device.
- You’re 5.9 times more likely to risk a crash or near crash if you’re dialing a cell phone.
When in a car:
- 2.8 times as likely to risk a crash or near crash if dialing cell phone.
- 1.3 times as likely to crash if talking/listening on cell phone.
- 1.4 times as likely to crash if reaching for an object.
By the data, targeting texting may be the effort most necessary. Researchers clearly point out that cell phone use on it’s own isn’t nearly as dangerous. The reason they feel, is that the results show “conclusively that a real key to significantly improving safety is keeping you eyes on the road.” Cell phone use (with voice activation) doesn’t intervene with it. Grabbing for your ringing cell phone does. As does texting. When subjects were texting while driving, they had the longest duration of time with eyes off the the road (4.6 seconds). “This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the roadway.”
What do you think, have you taken Oprah’s pledge? Do you text and drive? Did you hear about the bus driver driving with a cell phone in each hand? Is that beep or buzz of your phone enough to cause you to reach for it while barreling down the road?
Martin Young says
Perhaps it is time for the smart steering wheel, one which senses how long both hands should be on the steering wheel, and alarms or slows the car down for anything more than a few seconds when only one hand is sensed.
Because people won’t do the sensible thing until they are forced to!!
Meagan says
I have to admit, I’ve done it, but I do think it should be illegal… for everyone. Strangely, the thing that’s been most effective in stopping me from texting and driving is getting an android phone and docking it on the windshield. That way my phone functions more like a part of my car (maps, music) so I’m less tempted to interrupt it to fumble around trying to get to the message that just came in. It seems less urgent than when its buzzing on my hip or next to me for some reason.
The other side of that is that thanks to the bluetooth integration to car speaker phone, I am now far more likely to answer a phone call while driving. Of course it’s still safer than normal cell driving since it’s all hands free (I can answer the phone from my steering wheel) but it is still a distraction.
Ruth says
Isn’t it a complete no-brainer?
I’ve been nearly run over (as a pedestrian) and nearly crashed into (as a passenger in a car) by people using cell phone – just talking, not even looking down at the screen.
How can you possibly be aware of the hazards and signals on the road if you’re not looking at them?
Julia says
Amen, Sister! I was in a horrible car accident in 1993 -hit by a drunk driver – so I can’t even conceive of what kind of idiocy it takes for people to text and drive (or put on make-up and drive, or read and drive, or lean over to fumble in the glove compartment or on the floor and drive … all of which I’ve seen in my years of driving).
But then take it a step further, I know a mom who is adamant about how there needs to be a law that children’s car seats are made with the three point harness system for kids all the way through grade school. On the surface it is a fine idea to want kids to be safer – but it kind of becomes a moot point when you realize that recently said mom got in a car accident with her kids in the car because she was texting and driving on the freeway.
Jen says
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I get so mad driving around seeing how many people still talk on their phone while driving. I can always guarantee that the person who drifts into my lane or cuts me off is on the phone. Just because we all grew up in cars with no car seats doesn’t mean all the rules are stupid. we may not have had car seats in the 70’s but we also didn’t have cell phones. Come on people when the laws save you or your child’s life I bet you won’t be complaining then.
Katie says
Before I was a SAHM, I worked as a pharmaceutical rep for Johnson & Johnson. As they have one of the largest corporate fleets in the U.S., they take safe driving very seriously. Being on the road so much drastically increased my chance of being in a fatal accident. So every 18 months, we had to take a Safe Driving course taught by former race car drivers. One of the exercises we did was driving a very simple obstacle course twice: once without a cell and once taking and texting. The difference was astounding. None of us made it through the second time without hitting at least one cone. I know this backs up the data you shared, but I think everyone thinks they are “better” than the other person at distracted driving, and that exercise proved to the thirty of us in that class that we aren’t. It really made an impact on me.
The data that we were shown during those driving classes said that texting while driving is just as bad as drinking and driving when it comes down to the impact it has on your reflexes and reaction time. That is a strong message, because people who would never dream of getting behind the wheel drinking have no problem texting behind it. So I think it should be approached in a similar way. The MADD campaign was very effective on educating people about the consequences of drunk driving, so perhaps a similar approach with texting and distracted driving. I think people need to see and hear more about this data and the people affected by it in a more personal way. You have an excellent platform here for a good starting point!
Also, I know there are programs that can download to cell phones where it will auto respond when you are driving with a text letting people know they are driving and can’t answer. It automatically activates when your engine starts, so I think that would help for those that want to be better behind the wheel, but lack the discipline.
Anyway, sorry, wow. This is obviously a hot button for me, too!
DS says
No, I absolutely don’t text and drive – I used to, thinking like everyone does that I was doing it safely. After reading the studies showing that I was basically doing the equivalent of driving intoxicated, I’ve never done it again. I pull over to send a quick text if I really truly need to (but really, how often is that). At this point, with a 10 and soon-to-be 8 year old, I don’t anticipate allowing my kids phones (when they get them many years from now…) to have texting enabled. We’ll see…
At the science fair at my kids’ school two weeks ago, one of the 4th graders had done an experiment where he set up a long hallway with several obstacles in it. His experiment was to both time and measure # of mistakes (colliding into the obstacles) as people walked through it, walked through it while talking on a cell phone, and walked through it while texting. You can imagine the results.
Lessons learned this way are fun and fascinating to pre-phone-using-aged kids and stick with them more than our lecturing. We have to remember teens literally don’t have the neurologic ability to perceive risk in a realistic way.
DS says
p.s. Sending healing thoughts for your mom, Wendy Sue!
Jen B says
I think it only takes one near-crash experience to learn… it’s what it took for me. Unfortunately, sometimes that near-crash experience is just a crash.
Becky Andrews says
Just wanted to thank you for this post. I’ve done exactly what you describe – honked like mad and pointed at the phone. In one case, it worked, in the other case the woman shrugged at me and kept on texting. It makes me crazy, especially when I’ve got my baby in the car. I understand the temptation – I just make sure to put my phone in the trunk so that I have no access.
Heather Cooper says
Great post!
Have you seen this video by the CDC for parents of new drivers? I love it and thought some of your audience would appreciate it too. It’s only 1-minute long.
https://www.cdc.gov/ParentsAreTheKey/socialmedia/video-ipledge.html
My kids are only 8 right now, but I’m so conscious of the fact that they’re already in driver’s ed in the backseat of my car!
Kathy says
As someone who commutes about 80 miles a day for work, I constantly see distracted drivers on the road — usually they cross into the left/right lane or hit the rumble strips and swerve back into their own lane. This is on a freeway with 2 lanes going each direction, btw, but we are still traveling at very fast speeds on curvy/mountainous interstate.
I NEVER use my phone in the car (unless I’m parked). Texting or talking is not necessary in the car. There is never anything THAT urgent that cannot wait until I get to my destination. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t trust myself to be THAT awesome of a driver to do more than just focus on the road while I drive (so I can watch out for everyone who IS on their phone). Doesn’t anyone realize that we actually got along just fine in the world without planning, arranging, discussing, or brainstorming out-loud with another person? There was life before cell phones (and social media 😉 believe it or not. We “sat with our thoughts.” We cleared our minds. We took in the scenery of the open road. We just drove to get from point A to point B. We took this time to just think, or maybe sing real loud to our favorite music. But we didn’t talk (or type) on tiny little phones. I miss those days.
Eden says
As a cyclist/cycle commuter I am rather acutely aware of distracted drivers. IMHO *all* cell phone use, hands free or not should be banned for drivers…. It has been proven that cell phone use in cars (and this is phone use, not even as bad as texting) is equivalent to or worse than drunk driving. Hands free devices have not been shown to be any safer. That anyone could honestly think that they are safe to take it a step further and try to text while driving is unbelievable. My phone stays off in the car (and no I don’t try to use it on the bike either…)