A recent article by Marni Pyke claimed, “Yes, you can have it all”. You can make dinner reservations, text your boss and update Facebook from the comfort of your car thanks to dashboard infotainment systems that rival the Starship Enterprises’ command center. The features you can get on your car now are just amazing!!! Pyke goes onto say that all of that is just wonderful as long as you don’t let “driving” get in your way.
Illinois has had a ban on hand held phones or devices but safety advocates fear that “hands-free” may be sending the wrong message and making people think that hands-free is actually safe.
“People think hands-free is risk-free, but study after study shows that’s not the case,” AAA spokeswoman Beth Mosher said. This month AAA announced that 46 percent of drivers who use speech based systems to text or send emails don’t think those features are distracting, which Mosher called “disappointing”.
Car manufacturers are rolling out more extravagant consoles offering hands-free smartphone access to apps, voice commands, dual screens and navigation systems.
Manufacturers insist that technological advances have made driving safer thanks to rear-view cameras, lane-departure warnings and collision warning alerts. While many of these advances do make driving safer, the age old “distracted driving” remains.
Gross Distractions
The investigative team reported seeing age-old driver bad behaviors that had nothing to do with technology including—eating breakfast, applying makeup and lotion, reading newspapers and magazines, holding pets on their laps while driving and using their steering wheels for desks. Offenders were caught eating cereal out of a bowl, wiping the inside of their windshield with a spray cleaner and a woman painting her nails.
Not many of us need to be told that using your steering wheel as a desk is not wise. but cognitive psychologist Paul Atchley cautions that drivers might think they are watching the road while dictating commands or listening to texts, but an “inattention blindness” occurs that can be dangerous if road conditions change suddenly.
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute actually conducted a study of naturalistic driving studies where cameras were placed in vehicles to record driver behavior and this is what they found. “Distracted driving” is the cause of most crashes and the most documented leading causes include driver inattention due to fatigue and texting while driving, particularly by inexperienced drivers. Other interesting information they found includes:
- When a driver takes his or her eyes away from the road to look at or touch a cellphone, reach for the phone, dial the phone or text, it increases the risk of a crash by a ratio of 2.93, or 293 percent.
- Reading and driving increases the risk of a crash by 338 percent.
- Eating increases the risk of a crash by 157 percent
- Applying makeup increases the risk of crash by 313 percent, and
- Looking at roadside objects increases the risk of a crash by 370 percent
Granted, some of these activities sound pretty harmless, but in fact, ever second spent looking away form the road matters. A vehicle traveling at 55 mph can travel the length of a football field in 4.6 seconds. Because of the VTTI’s extensive research into the topic of distracted driving, they have become an advocated for tougher laws for texting and driving.
Overwhelming Study Data Finds:
More than 465 studies over 40 years show that “You need your brain to drive and you need your brain to talk,” said Atchley. “If you try to do both at once, you increase the risk of being in a crash”.
The National Transportation Safety Board has called for a complete ban on hands-free devices while driving. NTSB Board Member Walter Sumwalt said, “People don’t appreciate the impact cognitive distraction has on us. Laws coming out now that ban only hands-held devices send the wrong message”.
The Current Status of Illinois
It is not likely Illinois lawmakers will do any banning of hands-free devices in the near future as they just enacted the ban on hand-held devices last year. Currently, enforcing the hand-free ordinance seems to be a challenge as evidenced by the number of visual offenders you can see at a intersection in any metropolitan area at rush hour.
The general behaviors of distracted driving was the topic of last Friday’s blog, “Driving Law in O’Fallon, Missouri Covers More Than Just Texting” and interestingly, The Daily Herald’s topic of today. The councilmen in O’Fallon used specific examples of distracted driving including using a mirror during personal grooming and inputting information into a GPS. Friday’s blog included the critic’s point of view that more broadly defining “distracted driving” would cause an abnormal amount of citations.
However, if a newspaper team is able to observe over 1,000 people breaking the hand-held law in a metropolitan area in under an hour, we seriously have to wonder about the enforcement of such a law. This was observed in Illinois, but remember, Illinois has had a ban on all hand-held devices for over a year now and O’Fallon, MO and other local municipalities have only made hand-held bans more stringent in regard to age.
I think we can all safely agree on one thing—you need to keep your mind and eyes on the roadway. Engaging in any other behaviors increases your chances of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. If you are engaged in distracted behavior such as reading a newspaper, texting or even talking–there is a possibility that you will be held liable for damages in a motor vehicle accident. I cannot guarantee it, but if you distracted then you are putting yourself and others at risk.
Using your steering wheel as a desk, painting your nails or reading a newspaper while driving is just asinine and just asking to be in a car crash.
Really, at what point does distracted driving just become outright reckless? Probably somewhere between eating a granola bar and setting up a buffet on your dash. Seriously, operating a vehicle that is capable of killing others and engaging in an activity that is so obviously stupid is irresponsible.
Distracted Driving Scenarios May Sound Humorous
These obnoxious driving behaviors may sound comical when you read about it and certainly, when you see someone doing something ridiculous, you cannot help chuckle and be a bit surprised………………unless they are in your driving path. Or, when the car they do not see is yours. It ceases to be less funny if the distracted driver fails to see a vehicle carrying your children. If you are hurt in a motor vehicle crash or if you have a family member injured or killed by someone engaged in one of these behaviors, it is not funny at all and it can make you furious. Inattention is the number one reason for car crashes.
If you have been injured in a car accident, you will need legal representation. At The Cagle Law Firm, we represent injured victims of motor vehicle accidents. Call toll free 1-800-685-3302 or locally 314-276-1681 for a free consultation.
Summary Article Name Illinois Distracted Driving Debate–Is Hands-Free Really Risk Free? Author Zane T. Cagle Description A year after Illinois passed legislation to ban use of hand-held electronic devices, experts warn that hands-free can still lead to distracted driving.
