The safety recommendation against driver use of personal electronic devices (PEDs) specifically calls for the 50 states and the District of Columbia to ban the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (other than those designed to support the driving task) for all drivers.

http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2011/111213.html

The recommendation also urges use of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) model of high-visibility enforcement to support these bans and implementation of targeted communication campaigns to inform motorists of the new law and heightened enforcement.

“According to NHTSA, more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents,” Chairman Deborah Hersman said in a press release. “It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving. No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life.”

The NTSB met today about the Aug. 5, 2010 multi-vehicle highway accident in Gray Summit, Mo. On a section of Interstate 44 in Gray Summit, a pickup truck ran into the back of a truck-tractor that had slowed due to an active construction zone.

The pickup truck, in turn, was struck from behind by a school bus. That school bus was then hit by a second school bus that had been following. As a result, two people died and 38 others were injured.

The NTSB’s investigation revealed that the pickup driver sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes preceding the  accident. The last text was received moments before the pickup struck the truck-tractor.

The NTSB said that the Missouri accident was the most recent distraction accident the it has investigated, with the first  one taking place in 2002. In that instance a novice driver, distracted by a conversation on her cellphone, veered off the roadway in Largo, Md., crossed the median, flipped the car over, and killed five people.

Since then, the NTSB said that it has seen how deadly driver distraction can be across all modes of transportation.

In 2004, an experienced motorcoach driver, distracted on his hands-free cellphone, failed to move to the center lane and struck the underside of an arched stone bridge on the George Washington Parkway in Alexandria, Va. Eleven of the 27 high school students were injured.

In the 2008 collision of a commuter train with a freight train in Chatsworth, Calif., a commuter train engineer, who had a history of using his cellphone for personal communications while on duty, ran a red signal while texting. That train collided head on with a freight train, killing 25 and injuring dozens.

In 2009, two airline pilots were out of radio communication with air traffic control for more than an hour because they were distracted by their personal laptops. They overflew their destination by more than 100 miles, only realizing their error when a flight attendant inquired about preparing for arrival.

In Philadelphia in 2010, a barge being towed by a tugboat ran over an amphibious “duck” boat in the Delaware River, killing two Hungarian tourists. The tugboat mate failed to maintain a proper lookout due to repeated use of a cell-phone and laptop computer.

In 2010, near Munfordville, Ky., a truck-tractor in combination with a 53-foot-long trailer, left its lane, crossed the median and collided with a 15-passenger van. The truck driver failed to maintain control of his vehicle because he was distracted by use of his cellphone. The accident resulted in 11 fatalities.

In the last two decades, there has been exponential growth in the use of cellphone and personal electronic devices, according to the NTSB. Globally, there are 5.3 billion mobile phone subscribers or 77 percent of the world population. In the United States, that percentage is even higher – it exceeds 100 percent.

The NTSB also noted that a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study of commercial drivers found that a safety-critical event is 163 times more likely if a driver is texting, emailing or accessing the Internet.

“The data is clear; the time to act is now. How many more lives will be lost before we, as a society, change our attitudes about the deadliness of distractions?” Hersman said.

The NTSB posted a synopsis of its report on the Gray Summit accident on its website.

http://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/2011/gray_summit_mo/index.html

The first good news was that updated 2010 fatality and injury data show that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for the year, the lowest level since 1949, LaHood announced. And he pointed out that this record-breaking decline in traffic fatalities occurred even as American drivers traveled nearly 46 billion more miles during the year, an increase of 1.6 percent over the 2009 level.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2011/U.S.+Transportation+Secretary+LaHood+Announces+Lowest+Level+Of+Annual+Traffic+Fatalities+In+More+Than+Six+Decades

“While we have more work to do to continue to protect American motorists, these numbers show we’re making historic progress when it comes to improving safety on our nation’s roadways,” LaHood said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to the tireless work of our safety agencies and partner organizations over the past few decades, to save lives and reduce injuries, we’re saving lives, reducing injuries, and building the foundation for what we hope will be even greater success in the future.”

The updated information released by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also showed that  2010 also saw the lowest fatality rate ever recorded, with 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2010, down from 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2009.

Some of the other key statistics include:

* Fatalities declined in most categories in 2010, including for occupants of passenger cars and light trucks (including SUVs, minivans and pickups).
* Deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers dropped 4.9 percent in 2010, taking 10,228 lives compared to 10,759 in 2009.
* Fatalities rose among pedestrians, motorcycle riders and large truck occupants. 

In some particularly interesting news, the NHTSA also unveiled a new measure of fatalities related to distracted driving, which it calls ”distraction-affected crashes.”

Introduced for 2010 as part of a broader effort by the agency to refine its data collection to get better information about the role of distraction in crashes, the new measure is designed to focus more narrowly on crashes in which a driver was most likely to have been distracted.

While NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) previously recorded a broad range of potential distractions, such as careless driving and cell phone present in the vehicle, the new measure focuses on distractions that are most likely to affect crash involvement, such as distraction by dialing a cellular phone or texting and distraction by an outside person/event.

New data released today by NHTSA using its refined methodology show an estimated 3,092 fatalities in distraction-affected crashes in 2010.

The NHTSA effort to refine distraction data is similar to a step taken with alcohol information in FARS data for 2006. Prior to 2006, FARS reported “alcohol-related crashes,” which was defined as crashes in which a driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist had a blood alcohol level of .01 or higher.

In an effort to focus on crashes in which alcohol was most likely to be a causative factor, NHTSA introduced the new measure, “alcohol-impaired driving crashes,” with a more narrow definition including only those crashes in which a driver or motorcycle rider had a blood alcohol level of .08 or above, the legal limit in every state.

“Even as we celebrate the incredible gains we’re making in reducing traffic fatalities, we recognize our responsibility to improve our understanding of the dangers that continue to threaten drivers and passengers,” NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said in a prepared statement. “That’s why, under the leadership of Secretary LaHood, NHTSA is working to refine the way we collect data on distracted driving and laying the groundwork for additional research to capture real-world information on this risky behavior.”

While the explicit change in methodology means the new measure cannot be compared to the 5,474 “distraction-related” fatalities reported in 2009, other NHTSA data offer some indication that driver distraction continues to be a significant problem.

The agency’s nationwide observational survey of drivers in traffic remains unchanged between 2009 and 2010, with 5 percent of drivers seen talking on handheld phones. In addition, given ongoing challenges in capturing the scope of the problem — including individuals’ reluctance to admit behavior, lack of witnesses, and in some cases the death of the driver — NHTSA believes the actual number of crashes that involve distracted driving could be higher.

A new national NHTSA survey offers additional insights into how drivers behave when it comes to texting and cellphone use while behind the wheel and their perceptions of the safety risks of distracted driving. Survey respondents indicated they answer calls on most trips; they acknowledge few driving situations when they would not use the phone or text; and yet they feel unsafe when riding in vehicles in which the driver is texting and they support bans on texting and cellphone use.

We’ll be writing a separate blog on that phone survey.

These findings, according to the NHTSA, provide further evidence that distracted driving is a complex problem that is both hard to measure and difficult to address given conflicting public attitudes and behaviors.

“The findings from our new attitude survey help us understand why some people continue to make bad decisions about driving distracted — but what’s clear from all of the information we have is that driver distraction continues to be a major problem,” Strickland said. “We need to maintain our focus on this issue through education, laws, enforcement, and vehicle design to help keep drivers’ attention on the road.”

Among the findings, more than three-quarters of drivers report that they are willing to answer calls on all, most, or some trips.

Drivers also report that they rarely consider traffic situations when deciding when to use their phone.

While most drivers said they are willing to answer a call and many will send a text while driving, almost all of these same drivers reported that they would feel very unsafe as a passenger if their driver was sending or receiving text messages. Over one-third report that they would feel very unsafe if their driver was using a handheld phone.

NHTSA’s adoption of the new “distraction-affected crash” measure for the 2010 FARS data is one step in a continuing effort to focus in on driver distraction and separate it from other issues. As part of its commitment to reduce the problem of distracted driving, The NHTSA said that it will continue to look for improved data sources.

While police reports of serious crashes are an important source, they are limited by the evidence available to the officer, according to the NHTSA. As a result, the agency is working to optimize information from crash reports by improving reporting forms and officer training.

In addition, NHTSA will analyze new data on driver distraction from a new naturalistic study in which about 2,000 cars will be fitted with cameras and other equipment that will record driver behavior over a period of two years. Researchers will be able to use these data to associate driver behaviors with crash involvement.

Data from this study will be available in 2014.

A California woman, who hit and killed an elderly man because she was distracted by texting while she was driving, won’t be able to have a cellphone in her car as part of a plea bargain, according to The Los Angeles Times.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/car-phone-ban-for-woman-who-killed-pedestrian-while-texting.html

Ani Voskanian, 21, of Tujunga, Calif., pleaded no contest to felony manslaughter in the death of Misak Ranjbar, 80, of Glendale, Calif. 

In Los Angeles, Superior Court Judge Judge Patrick Hegarty sentenced Voskanian to three years probation and 300 hours of community service. Also as part of a plea deal, Voskanian can’t “possess a cellphone while inside a vehicle,” according to The Times.

Voskanian, whose license was revoked for three years, also has to put together a education program for junior high school and high school students on why motorists shouldn’t text while they are driving.    

In a generous gesture, the son of the victim, Roger Ranjbar, also offered to accompany Voskanian while she lectures at schools on texting and driving.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/09/22/2010-09-22_kin_of_deliveryman_left_braindead_by_texting_driver_wont_pull_plug_vow_suit_stil.html

Tian Shen Lin, 53, sustained severe brain injury when his scooter was struck Sunday by a Camry driven by Nechama Rothberger, 19. She was texting on her cellphone when she struck Lin, who was making a delivey for his family’s Chinese restaurant. 

The family has already hired an attorney to file suit against Rothberger, according to the News, and they are still praying that Lin will recover. He is still undergoing tests, but quite frankly, it would be a miracle for Lin to recover.  

On Sunday night a 19-year-old girl in Brooklyn was texting while driving when she struck a Chinese restaurant deliveryman on a scooter, according to reports in several New York City papers.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/texting_teen_slams_into_deliveryman_rKF4KCKkrvIWB64L9AUQyJ

Tian Sheng Lin, 53, was in critical condition with severe head trauma after being hit by a Toyota Camry driven by Nechama Rothberger. A story in the New York Post said that Lin had been declared brain dead at Kings County Hospital.

Rothberger was arrested, and charged with a misdemeanor, reckless driving, and issued a violation for driving while using a cellphone. Police at the accident scene had found her mobile phone with a partial message written on it.  

 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/20/2010-09-20_texting_brooklyn_teen_driver_hits_critically_injures_chinese_deliveryman.html

Lin, who has three children, worked for the Best China Restaurant, which is located only a few blocks from where the accident took place.

Rothberger’s lawyer told reporters that Rothberger had not struck Lin on purpose, that it was all an accident.

Yes, an accident by someone who was reckless and stupid enough to be texting while driving. I’m sure that Lin’s family will be comforted by the lawyer’s explanation.

http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Main/Default.asp?CategoryID=7&ArticleID=789

A recent survey by AAA and Kurgo found that one in five respondents admitted to driving with a dog in their lap. Since Kurgo makes pet-restraint products, some skeptics might question the objectivity of this survey. Is Kurgo just looking to sell more pet harnesses?

But despite that, the survey results seem kosher to us.

In a press release, the AAA said that while people often like to take their “canine companions” on errands with them, “in a vehicle this can mean added distractions for the driver.”

AAA and Kurgo asked dog owners how often they drive with their dog and about their habits behind the wheel. “The survey found that drivers not only love to bring Fido along, but they also often engage in risky behaviors when man’s best friend is along for the ride,” according to the press release.

Thirty-one percent of the survey respondents admitted to being distracted by their dog while driving. And 59 percent have participated in at least one distracting behavior while driving with their dog, according to the survey.

More than half (55 percent) have pet their dog while driving, and one in five allowed their dog to sit in their lap (21 percent).

Other distracting behaviors drivers admitted to include giving food and water to their dog (7 percent) and playing with their dog (5 percent). These behaviors can distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has found that looking away from the road for only two seconds doubles your risk of being in a crash.

An overwhelming 80 percent of respondents stated that they have driven with their pets on a variety of car trips including day trips, local errands and leisure trips, the pet store, dog parks and to work. However only 17 percent use any form of pet restraint system when driving with their dog.

“Use of a pet restraint system, such as those available from Kurgo, can aid in limiting distractions and help protect your pet,” the press release says.

“Restraining your pet when driving can not only help protect your pet, but you and other passengers in your vehicle as well,”  said Jennifer Huebner-Davidson, AAA National, Traffic Safety Programs manager “An unrestrained 10-pound dog in a crash at 50 mph will exert roughly 500 pounds of pressure, while an unrestrained 80-pound dog in a crash at only 30 mph will exert 2,400 pounds of pressure. Imagine the devastation that can cause to your pet and anyone in the vehicle in its path.”

Here’s where the press release gives us the full hard sell from Kurgo.

“There are a variety of reasonably priced products available to help dog owners reduce distractions their pets might cause while driving while keeping them safe,” it says. ” There have been many recent innovations in this market from Kurgo and others to make these products more comfortable for the dog and convenient to use for the owner. AAA recommends owners utilize a restraint system anytime they are driving with their pet—even close to home. Pet restraint products, such as those from Kurgo, are available at local pet stores nationwide. To find a dealer near you, visit Kurgo.com.”

I wasn’t aware of it, but AAA offers a variety of services for pet owenrs. For example, it has a book for those who plan to take their pets on a trip, entited ”Traveling with Your Pet: The AAA PetBook,” which includes pet-friendly AAA Approved property listings and advice on transporting pets.

 The book also features information on how to enter the annual AAA PetBook Photo Contest sponsored by Best Western. Entry deadline is Nov. 30 and the winning pets will appear on a cover of the next edition. To enter, visit AAA.com/petbook.

AAA members can also save on services for their pet through the Show Your Card & Save program. Members save 10 percent on pet supplies at Target.com and 10 percent on pet-sitting and dog-walking services at home or on the road with Fetch! Pet Care.

Prescriptions for family pets that can be filled at a traditional pharmacy may also be eligible for a AAA discount. 

Some 25 percent of Jersey drivers said they have texted while driving in the past few years, a 25 percent increase from last year, when only 21 percent said they had done so, according to a study conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll. The study, which was released last week, was co-sponsored by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

 http://publicmind.fdu.edu/texting/

And ironically, even though Garden State drivers are acting foolishly by doing more texting, they still believe that New York drivers are worse than them.

According to the study, in prior years the increases in texting in New Jersey could be attributed to drivers under 30, but this isn’t the case anymore.  Although the youngest drivers are more likely to text than any other age group, the increase in texting in this year’s survey was attributed to drivers 30 to 60.

This year 37 percent of drivers 30 to 44 years said they they’ve sent a text while driving, up nine points from last year. And 17 percent of drivers 45 to 60 said they had texted while driving, an increase of 12 percent in 2009.

And for drivers 30 to 60, those who admit to texting while driving has increased dramatically since 2008.

“These figures reflect how much texting has become part of our lives, so much so that we’re even doing it in the driver’s seat,” Dan Cassino, director of experimental research for the PublicMind poll and a Fairleigh Dickinson political science professor, said in a press release. “As more people get used to texting, more are going to do it while driving, so these numbers are probably going to keep going up for some time.”

While texting behind the wheel is on the rise, the use of hand-held phones while driving in the Garden State is on the decline. This year only 12 percent of New Jersey drivers say that they “very often” or “sometimes” talk on a hand-held cell while behind the wheel, down from 18% in 2009, and half of the 26% who admitted to doing so in 2007.

The biggest contributor to this drop was a substantial decline in the use of hand-held phones by young drivers. This year, only 13 percent of drivers under age 30 said that they regularly talked on a hand-held phone while driving, compared to 33 percent last year.

Some of this decline can be attributed to the belief that hands-free devices are safer: 79 percent of New Jersey drivers say that hand-held phones are more dangerous than hands-free devices, up from 67 percent in 2008.

“Most drivers don’t seem to understand that it isn’t holding the phone that’s the problem, but the mental and visual distraction caused by the conversation,” Pam Fischer, director of New Jersey’s highway traffic safety unit, said in a press release. “If we’re replacing hand-held cell phone use with texting, which is more dangerous than driving drunk, we’re certainly not moving in the right direction.”

Today, July 1, bans on texting-while-driving went into effect in six states, adding to the 18 others that already prohibit motorists from using their cellphones to send messages.

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2010/June10/062810/063010-03.htm

Michigan, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming will start enforcing their new laws today. And a number of other states will have their anti-texting bans go into effect before the year ends, namely Kentucky, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Connecticut.

With so many laws against texting debuting today, the national and local media have done a lot of coverage on the new laws, their penalties and the whole issue of whether such bans really work. Every media outlet from NPR on the radio to Landline, the business magazine for professional truckers, to the Detroit Free Press did pieces on the new anti-texting legislation.  

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128220944

NPR cited statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation that said that in 2008 roughly 6,000 people died in accidents connected to distracted driving, and some 500,000 were hurt. 

The NPR report, interviewing Georgia State Police, focused on the difficultyof enforcing the texting bans. In other words, how do you know that someone is texting?

The texting bans that went into effect today vary from state to state, in terms of who they cover and their penalties.

For example, in Georgia the texting ban applies to all drivers, while in Iowa it also bans drivers under 18 from using a cellphone while beind the wheel. 

The fines for violating the texting bans vary widely, from $30 in Iowa to $200 in the Cornhusker State.

The Detroit Free Press warned drivers in the Motor City that they could be fined $100 initially, then $200, if they are caught texting-while-driving from now on.  

 http://www.freep.com/article/20100701/NEWS05/100701012/1320/Texting-while-driving-could-cost-100-now

Winfrey declared last Friday, April 30, as National No Phone Zone Day. She had done a show on the topic back in January, and has ramped up her efforts to support the cause.

One of the high points of  Friday’s show was when it televised Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signing that state’s anti-texting bill into law. With a stroke of her pen, Granholm made Michigan the 24th state to ban texting while driving. 

“We’re proud to be the 24th state now to be able to ban texting while driving,” Granholm said. “While talking on the phone is a distraction, clearly, texting while driving on top of that — where you don’t have your eyes on the road or your hands on the wheel or your mind on what you’re doing — it is clearly a danger.”   http://www.freep.com/article/20100501/NEWS06/5010362/Oprah-celebrates-Mich.-texting-ban

Said Oprah, “Michigan just became a safer place because of that new law.”

There was plenty of press coverage  about the signing, which may have been a non-event for newspapers until Oprah got news of the texting-ban front and forward.  

Via satellite, Oprah also went live to anti-texting and anti-cellphone use rallies in Los Angeles, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Boston.

The Detroit coverage, hosted by actress/comedian Ali Wentworth, included not only the bill-signing, but also a clip of  General Motors chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre. He announced that 77,000 of his U.S. employees will sign Oprah’s “No Phone Zone” pledge, which now has more than 200,000 names. http://www.oprah.com/packages/no-phone-zone.html

By pledging, drivers agree to make their car a “No Phone Zone” and refrain from using their phone while driving, eliminating distractions from incoming calls, texts or e-mails. Among those that have signed the pledge are Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, Olympic star Sean White, Jerry Seinfeld, Oscar winners Jeff Bridges and Mo’Nique, Tyler Perry and the cast of the hit TV show “Glee.”

At the rally in Washington Secretary of  Transportation Ray LaHood, who is spearheading a federal ban on texting by truckers behind the wheel, make some remarks.

Correspondent Lisa Ling lead  the Los Angeles rally, interviewing celebrities who have signed Oprah’s petition for anti-texting and cellphone use laws, including Mario Lopez and last year’s “American Idol” winner Kris Allen.    

Oprah, to strike home her message about the danger of distracted driving, also had the victims of motorists who were texting while driving, or using a cellphone, on her show. It was poignant, with parents talking about the deaths of their children, from a 2-year-old hit by a vehicle driven by someone texting to  a beautiful teen-aged girl who crashed and flipped over her truck while texting to a friend. Her mother and father found her body. 

Oprah also have a shout-out to a New York Times reporter, Matt Richtel,  whose series “Driven to Distraction”  just won him a Pulitzer Prize.