NHTSA Campaign Focuses on Stopping Texting While Driving

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a goal of improving the safety of our highways. Focusing on education, the organization hopes to change the poor driving practices that lead to serious injuries and deaths on U.S. roadways.

NHTSA’s latest campaign,“Stop the Texts, Stop the Wrecks,”is focused on eliminating cell phone use while driving. 

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), nearly one-fourth of all crashes, or approximately 1.3 million auto accidents each year, can be attributed to cell phone use while driving. The NSC also found that distractions now join alcohol and speeding as leading factors in all automobile accidents. 

The NHTSA campaign site offers 30 facts related to texting and driving, such as: 

• A texting driver is 23 times more likely to crash;
• Drivers using hand-held cell phones are four times more likely to be in an injury accident;
• Distracted driving is the number one killer of teenagers. 

Eye-opening video clips that show the consequences of taking your eyes off the road while texting are also available on the website.

Even though the campaign targets younger drivers, adults are also guilty of distracted driving.In Kentucky in 2009, 200 fatalities on the roads and highways were blamed on distracted driving.

Under a law that took effect in January, Kentucky drivers face fines and court costs for texting while driving. Currently, texting is prohibited for all drivers while the vehicle is in motion, and the use of any personal communications devices by drivers under 18 is banned. 

If the results of a national survey hold true for Kentucky drivers, texting laws may not deter drivers from this unsafe practice. According to the new Harris Interactive / HealthDay poll, 59 percent of the respondents admitted to talking on a hand-held cell phone, and 37 percent admitted to texting while driving. Surprisingly, even those who admitted to distracted driving agreed that their behaviors significantly increased the chances of a car accident.

Humphrey Taylor, chairman of the Harris poll, said, “The number of drivers who engage in potentially dangerous, in some cases extremely dangerous, behaviors while driving is terrifyingly high, particularly when you remember that every one percent of drivers polled represents more than one-and-three-quarters of a million people.” 

NHTSA offers the following suggestions to help drivers stop texting while driving: 

• Out of sight, out of mind. Before getting behind the wheel, place your phone somewhere that you can’t reach it and won’t be tempted to get to it.
• Load a safety app. Download one of several safety apps that prevents you from texting while driving.
• Silence is golden.Turn your sound off on the phone when driving so you won’t grab it to read the latest message.
• Designate a texter. Have your passenger respond to your text messages. 

Our car accident attorneys continue to urge Kentucky drivers to focus on the highway and wait until you arrive at your destination to use your cell phone. If there is an emergency that needs to be dealt with, pull off the road in a safe location and complete the calls or texts.