Texting While Driving: Teens are NOT the worst Offenders

Associated Press

 

If you're about to warn your teenager about the dangers of texting or talking on the phone while driving, a new report suggests you look in the mirror first.

A study released Friday by The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project says adults and teenagers are equally likely to have texted while driving. And adults are more likely to have chatted on their phones while driving.

The study found that 47 percent of adults who text reported sending or reading texts while behind the wheel. In a 2009 Pew study, a lower number - 34 percent - of 16- and 17-year-olds who send texts said that they did that while driving.

Because not everyone has a phone or sends texts, the report said the findings indicate that 27 percent of all U.S. adults have sent or read texts while driving and 26 percent of all U.S. 16- and 17-year-olds have done so.

The study also found that adults are much more likely to chat on their phones while driving: 75 percent of adults with mobile phones said they talked and drove. Fifty-two percent of teenagers with cell phones said they did so in last year's study.

That would translate into a finding that 61 percent of all U.S. adults talk on the phone while driving, while the 2009 study indicates that 43 percent of all 16- and 17-year-olds do likewise.

Mary Madden, a senior research specialist for Pew and the study's lead author, said that while many educational efforts that emphasize the dangers of distracted driving have targeted teens, the findings show a need to educate adults, too.

"I think all of us can identify with that temptation to stay connected during those idle moments in the car. ... The reality is, even if the car isn't moving, a delayed response to a green light or at a stop sign can still result in an accident," she said.

The Pew study didn't take into account that some drivers may be using handsfree devices such as Bluetooth headsets when they talk and drive, but Madden pointed out that simply having a conversation can be a distraction.

Even when not driving, adults are still engrossed in their phones: The study said that 17 percent of adults who have cell phones reported walking into other people or things because they were so busy using their phones to text or chat.

The survey used telephone interviews with 2,252 adults between April 29 and May 30. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

States Go After Texting Drivers

USA Today

The fight against distracted driving may be at a tipping point as 23 states debate legislation to ban texting while driving, a practice 19 states already prohibit.

"Legislators are looking to see if it (texting) is enough of a safety issue that they need to intervene," says Anne Teigen, a transportation specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, who says 194 bills concerning various forms of distracted driving, including texting, are being debated in 34 states. "They often get involved because there's a high-profile accident that had to do with texting. Also, because everybody has a cellphone now."

Justin McNaull, auto club AAA's director of state relations, says he expects "a dozen or more" new texting bans to pass this year. "There's clear public disapproval of the behavior, and there's strong public support for a law," he says.

Wisconsin state Rep. Peter Barca says he got interested "primarily just from hearing from constituents within my district and then seeing news accounts of the dangers of this." Barca, a Democrat, says that last year he could get support only for banning texting for drivers under 18. Last week, a ban for all drivers passed the state Assembly 89-6. Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign it, Barca says.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined the National Safety Council to announce the launch of FocusDriven, a national non-profit organization modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving to combat distracted driving.

"I'm kind of at a loss as to why every state doesn't have a no-texting law," says Jennifer Smith, president of the new group. "That's a no-brainer."

The Department of Transportation says 5,870 people — 16% of all highway fatalities — died in distracted-driving crashes and 515,000 were injured in 2008.

Smith's mother, Linda Doyle, 61, was killed in 2008 in Oklahoma City by a driver who was using a phone, Smith says. "He admitted he was on the phone and never saw the light," she says.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has introduced federal legislation to ban texting or e-mailing while driving. States that didn't go along would risk losing 25% of their federal highway funds.

Smart Phone App Prevents Texting And Talking While Driving

LA Times

One in four American teens of driving age says he or she has texted while driving, and almost half of all youths ages 12 to 17 say they have been a passenger while a driver has texted behind the wheel, according to a survey released in November by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

So when Darcy Ahl's 16-year-old son tried to answer his phone while driving, she was rattled to the core. The car started swerving on a busy interstate, and Ahl frantically instructed her son to end the call.

"I wondered to myself what would have happened if I hadn't told him to hang the phone up," Ahl said. "I wondered what would have happened if I weren't there."

Immediately after that scare, Ahl, an executive recruiter, went back to her office to figure out a way to keep teenage drivers away from their phones. By the following morning, iZUP's concept was completely formulated in her head.

Ahl came up with an idea for a smart phone application that prevents drivers from talking on the phone and texting while driving. Illume Software is releasing the application iZUP today. Ahl co-founded Illume Software and is now the company's vice president of public affairs.

The application iZUP uses GPS technology to detect a car's speed. If a car is traveling over 5 miles per hour, the application sends incoming calls to voice mail and holds text messages. It also blocks outgoing text messages and calls, except emergency 911 calls.

Account holders have the option of entering authorized phone numbers, such as parents' cellphone numbers, that the driver can both call and receive calls from while en route.

The application is teenager tamper proof, according to Illume Software. It is difficult to improperly uninstall, and if it is successfully uninstalled, the account holder will immediately receive an e-mail alert.

I downloaded iZUP onto an Android G1 phone and tested it out. While the car was in motion, iZUP held my phone hostage. It didn't allow me to do anything but call authorized numbers.

The application prevented texts, phone calls, Internet use and denied me access to my contacts and music ... even when I was sitting in the passenger seat.

An Illume Software representative said that the account holder can enter a pin code that temporarily disables the application if, say, his or her teen will be a passenger on a long road trip and wants full phone access.

The application worked as intended, but there was about a minute-long delay before it recognized the car's speed and either worked or disabled. A few times the lag enabled me to make and receive phone calls while the car was in motion.

But as soon as the application recognized that the car was traveling over 5 miles per hour, it shut down all communication. When the application kicked in, I was not able to make outgoing calls, and when I tried to answer incoming calls, I'd hear music instead of the caller's voice.

The application is only available at the moment for Blackberry and handsets that run on Windows Mobile and Android operating software. It costs $4.95 for a monthly subscription and $49.95 for a year. The iZUP family plan, which allows three to five phones on an account, costs $9.95 per month and $79.95 for a year. The application can be found at www.getizup.com.

Texting While Driving Banned For Feds

Story from the NY Times

Federal employees will not be allowed to text while driving, according to an executive order signed Wednesday night by President Obama.

The order covers federal employees when they are using government-provided cars or cellphones and when they are using their own phones and cars to conduct government business.

Separately, the federal government plans to ban text messaging by bus drivers and truckers who travel across state lines, and may also preclude them from using cellphones while driving, except in emergencies.

Ray H. LaHood, the transportation secretary, announced those and several other measures on Thursday, aimed at curbing what he called a deadly epidemic of distracted driving.

He made his announcement at a conference in Washington that included 300 academics, law enforcement officials, legislators, telecommunications and automobile industry representatives, as well as families of people killed by motorists who were talking on cellphones or text messaging.

“This meeting is probably the most important meeting in the history of the Department of Transportation,” Mr. LaHood said at the end of the two-day conference. He added that the order to restrict text messaging by federal employees behind the wheel “sends a very clear signal to the American public that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable.”

A spokeswoman for the Transportation Department said the order took effect immediately and involved 4.5 million federal employees, including military personnel.

According to the National Safety Council, a nonprofit safety advocacy group, several hundred companies have banned employees from using their cellphones while driving. That group says such bans improve safety, help limit the liability of employers when accidents do occur, and free employees from feeling pressure to respond immediately while they are behind the wheel.

The rules affecting interstate truckers and bus drivers will take longer to put in place and may be more nuanced.

Mr. LaHood said the rule would “ban text messaging altogether” by such drivers. But Rose A. McMurray, acting administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the trucking industry, said there would first need to be a definition of “text messaging.”

The question facing the trucking industry in particular is what will become of the computers that thousands of long-haul truckers use in their cabs to communicate with dispatchers and do other work.

Research from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute shows that these devices can markedly increase the risk of causing a crash or near crash if used when driving. Its research also shows that truckers often bypass warnings to not use the devices while driving.

Ms. McMurray said she expected that it would take several months to complete a rule governing buses and trucks, during which time the agency would study the “array of devices” used by these drivers.

She said that she expected to ban truckers from texting with their phones and also to ban behavior “that would require fingers to manipulate a keyboard, or to take the eyes off the road” to use a keyboard and, possibly, other technologies used for typing.

The trucking industry has said it is concerned that texting bans in general could have unintended consequences of interfering with devices that truckers have come to rely on.

Ms. McMurray said it was also not yet clear how the rule would restrict the use of cellphones by these drivers. She said it could include a ban altogether on the use of such phones by interstate truckers and bus drivers, except in cases of emergency, but she said that rule would also take time to complete.

She said the need to take such steps was in part “because of the size of the vehicles.”

The distracted driving conference provided a forum for a range of different interests hoping to raise awareness of distracted driving and influence how the issue is addressed. The speakers included Senators Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, who have introduced legislation to force states to ban texting while driving or lose federal highway funds.

Some people left the gathering concerned that the conference emphasized texting bans over risks posed by drivers talking on cellphones. That issue was discussed, but less so than texting. Critics said the texting issue seemed like an easier issue to address politically.

Banning texting “makes people feel good and makes it look like you’re doing something, but you’re not tackling the more difficult problem,” said David Strayer, a professor at the University of Utah who studies distracted driving. “It misses the larger point.”

Driving While Texting Banned In Maryland

Story from S. Maryland News

Maryland will join 12 other states that have banned texting while driving; six additional states will prohibit the practice by January. It will be a primary offense, meaning officers can pull over anyone they suspect is using a wireless device to send a text message. Offenders face a maximum fine of $500 and one point on their driving records.

Over the last five years, an average of more than 30,000 crashes has occurred annually on Maryland roads as a result of inattentive driving, according to data from the Maryland Highway Safety Office. During the same period, nearly 20,000 people are injured annually in Maryland because of distracted driving, which includes cellular phone use, texting, changing radio stations, eating and more.

"We feel it's a great first step towards addressing the issue of distracted driving," said Jeremy Gunderson, the office's spokesman. "Nobody out there is claiming it to be the panacea, but with the rapid increase of cellular device ownership, it's a great first step and we look forward to seeing some great results arise from this."