Driving While Distracted Kills

The only people who love statistics and numbers more than scientists are government officials; but in this case the numbers are an omen for disaster.

After releasing that nearly 6,000 people were killed last year as a result of distracted drivers Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood called it a serious epidemic. Along with the deaths that comprised 16 percent of all traffic related deaths in 2008, over 500,000 people were injured in those same accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not separate the numbers for each distraction but lists talking on the phone, text messaging, eating, talking with passengers, and playing with controls as distractions. Dealing with unruly children was lnit listed, but is a major distraction to a driver as well. LaHood admits that the numbers may be conservative since identifying a specific distraction as the cause of a crash is hard to determine.

While auto insurance companies assume that young drivers are a bigger risk, only 16 percent of the figures were credited to drivers under 20 and 12 percent from drivers aged 20-29.

Lawmakers, auto manufacturers, and wireless companies agree that phone use and text messaging while driving is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Some states have passed laws forbidding handheld phone use and a few are beginning to pass laws against texting but in most cases the offenses are secondary which means an officer cannot charge or ticket a driver with the offense unless the driver is stopped for a major offense first.