Distracted driving is a behaviour dangerous to drivers, passengers, and non-occupants alike. Distraction is a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity. A distraction-affected crash is any crash in which a driver was identified as distracted at the time of the crash. Ten percent of fatal crashes in 2011 were reported as dis-traction-affected crashes. Seventeen percent of injury crashes in 2011 were reported as distraction-affected crashes. In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers and an estimated additional 387,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. Of those people killed in distraction-affected crashes, 385 died in crashes in which at least one of the drivers was using a cell phone (12% of fatalities in distraction-affected crashes) at the time of the crash. Use of a cell phone includes talking/listening to a cell phone, dialling/texting a cell phone, or other cell-phone-related activities. Of those injured in distraction-affected crashes, an estimated 21,000 were injured in crashes that involved the use of cell phones at the time of the crashes (5% of injured people in distraction-affected crashes). Eleven percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted. For drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes, 21 percent of the distracted drivers were distracted by the use of cell phones. In 2011, 495 non-occupants were killed in distraction-affected crashes. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting