Car Crashes Caused by Inattentive Driving

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April 27th, 2006

"Inattentive Driving Responsible for Most Car Crashes"

Eighty percent of motor vehicle crashes in the United States involve distracted drivers, according to a government study that videotaped the drivers of 100 vehicles in northern Virginia and Washington D.C.

Researchers reviewed thousands of hours of video and data from sensor monitors linked to the drivers and discovered that driver distractions such as talking on a cell phone, eating, and applying make-up, can significantly increase the risk of a crash.

Of the popular multi-tasking activities drivers engage in while on the road, reaching for a moving object while driving showed the greatest potential for a crash � increasing the risk by nine times. Reading, applying make-up, and dialing a cell phone each increased the risk of a car accident by about three times.

Additionally, the study revealed drowsy driving as a factor that could enhance the driver''s risk of a crash or near-crash by four to six times. Drowsy driving is frequently underreported in police crash investigations, according to the study''s authors.

�All of these activities are much more serious than we thought before,� commented Dr. Charlie Klauer, a senior researcher at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

The 100-Car Study, as it was called, analyzed nearly 2 million miles driven and over 43,000 hours of data and was conducted by researchers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

During their more than year long study, researchers also found that drivers who took long looks away from the road ahead of them at the wrong moment doubled their risk of a car crash.

Lt. Col. Jim Champagne, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association, does not see new legislation necessary, however, to address these risky driver behaviors.