National Highway Traffic Safety Administration And Cell Phone

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration And Cell Phone

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration And Cell Phone

Posted on: January 09, 2012 - 10:12 pm
by Admin

She has to be at work in 5 minutes, her cell phone rings - maybe it's her husband calling to say she forgot her lunch at home, or is it her boss wondering why she's not at work yet? Forget about letting it go to voicemail, it could be important! As she reaches for her purse and starts to rummage through it, looking for the ringing cell, she doesn’t see the traffic light change from green to red and drives right into the intersection. A few seconds later, after finding the cell phone, she looks up and screams, just before hitting another car in the intersection.

This scenario could be a reality that many drivers face on the road, as distracted driving in North America has increased with drivers multi-tasking behind the wheel. Accidents from distracted driving can occur for a number of reasons, including cell phone, text messaging and laptop usage, eating food or drinking beverages and worrying about children, who are fighting in the backseat.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States, distracted drivers killed about 6,000 people in 2008. Furthermore, a NHTSA study, conducted in the same year, found that during daylight hours, drivers in more than 800,000 vehicles are using their cell phones. In British Columbia, Canada, approximately 117 people die each year in the province and 1,400 people are sent to the hospital due to drivers who are not paying attention behind the wheel, according to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). In addition, ICBC attributes cell phone use while driving as the number one cause of distracted driving.