Distracted driving is causing thousands of deaths

Speicial to The Times
Updated ·2 min read

More than 3,000 people die in distracted driving crashes every year and hundreds of thousands are injured in crashes involving a distracted driver. About one in five of these fatalities in 2019 weren’t even in a vehicle – they were walking or biking.

In an effort to prevent tragedies, April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What is distracted driving? Driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving. There are three main types of distraction:

  • Visual: taking your eyes off the road.

  • Manual: taking your hands off the wheel.

  • Cognitive: taking your mind off of driving.

Distracted driving activities include things like using a cell phone, texting and eating. Using in-vehicle technologies, such as navigation systems, can also be sources of distraction. While any of these distractions can endanger the driver and others, texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction. Sending or reading a text at 55 mph is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field blindfolded.

The results of distracted driving can be severe, especially among younger drivers. A National Institutes of Health study found novice teen drivers were eight times more like to crash or have a near miss when dialing a phone, seven to eight times more likely when reaching for a phone or other object, almost four times more likely when texting and three times more likely when eating.

Although teens 15-20 were most likely to be involved in fatal distracted driving crashes, they are not the only ones susceptible to the lure of technology. You only have to take a quick look around on the highway to see how prevalent distracted driving is. A Centers for Disease Control study found 69 percent of drivers in the United States ages 18-64 reported that they had talked on their cell phone while driving within the 30 days before they were surveyed. Thirty-one percent of U.S. drivers ages 18-64 reported that they had read or sent text messages or email messages while driving at least once within the 30 days before they were surveyed.

It’s not only dangerous. Some forms of distracted driving are illegal. Louisiana law says:

  • New drivers with “learner's" or “intermediate" licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving in Louisiana.

  • Louisiana also has a statewide ban on the use of wireless devices for writing, sending or reading text-based communications while driving, regardless of age.

  • If you're driving through a school zone during posted hours, it is against the law to use your cell phone or other mobile device for any reason.

Show your commitment to safe driving by taking the distracted driving pledge at https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving#take-the-pledge and ask your teen driver to take it as well.

For more information on ThinkFirst of the Ark-La-Tex, log on to www.thinkfirstlouisiana.org, call 318-226-0066 or check out www.facebook.com/arklatexthinkfirst, www.instagram.com/thinkfirst_arklatex or www.tiktok.com/@thinkfirstarklatex.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Distracted driving is causing thousands of deaths