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Text Messaging Car Accident

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Public service massage is way to graphic.


Video - Text Messaging Car Accident


here are the facts.


Teen Driver Cell Phone and Texting Statistics


•Despite the risks, the majority of teen drivers ignore cell phone driving restrictions.
•Talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver's reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old.
•56% of teenagers admit to talking on their cell phones behind the wheel, while 13% admit to texting while driving. (Note: Because this information was given voluntarily by teens, actual cell phone use numbers may be much higher.)
•48% of young Americans from 12-17 say they've been in a car while the driver was texting.
•52% of 16- and 17-year-old teen drivers confess to making and answering cell phone calls on the road. 34% admit to text messaging while driving.
•In 2007, driver distractions, such as using a cell phone or text messaging, contributed to nearly 1,000 crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
•Over 60% of American teens admit to risky driving, and nearly half of those that admit to risky driving also admit to text messaging behind the wheel.
•Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year.
•Almost 50% of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 are texting while driving.
•Over one-third of all young drivers, ages 24 and under, are texting on the road.
•Teens say that texting is their number one driver distraction.


Cell Phones, Text Messaging, and Car Accident Information for All Drivers


•Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents.
•One-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States send text messages while driving.
•In 2008 almost 6,000 people were killed and a half-million were injured in crashes related to driver distraction.
•At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone.
•4 out of every 5 accidents (80%) are attributed to distracted drivers. In contrast, drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nationally.
•Texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated.
•People who text while driving are 23% more likely to be in a car accident.
•A study of dangerous driver behavior released in January 2007 by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. found that of 1,200 surveyed drivers, 73% talk on cell phones while driving. The same 2007 survey found that 19% of motorists say they text message while driving.
•In 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 10% of drivers are on handheld or hands free cell phones at any given hour of the day.
•A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Motorists found that motorists who use cell phones while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
•In 2002, the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis calculated that 2,600 people die each year as a result of using cellphones while driving. They estimated that another 330,000 are injured.
•According to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, drivers talking on cell phones are 18% slower to react to brake lights. They also take 17% longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked
•Of cell phone users that were surveyed, 85% said they use their phones occasionally when driving, 30% use their phones while driving on the highway, and 27% use them during half or more of the trips they take.
•84% of cell phone users stated that they believe using a cell phone while driving increases the risk of being in an accident.
•The majority of Americans believe that talking on the phone and texting are two of the most dangerous behaviors that occur behind the wheel. Still, as many as 81% of drivers admit to making phone calls while driving.
•The number of crashes and near-crashes linked to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening. Dialing is more dangerous but occurs less often than talking or listening.
•Studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.



Study Reveals the Dangers of Texting While Driving
The following statistics come from a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI):



•Of all cell phone related tasks - including talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone - texting while driving is the most dangerous.
•Teen drivers are four times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near crash events directly related to talking on a cell phone or texting.
•A car driver dialing a cell phone is 2.8 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-distracted driver.
•A driver reaching for a cell phone or any other electronic device is 1.4 times more likely to experience a car crash.
•A car driver talking on their phone is 1.3 times more likely to get into an accident.
•A truck driver texting while driving is 23.2 times more likely to get into an accident than a trucker paying full attention to the road.
•A truck driver dialing a cell is 5.9 times more likely to crash.
•A trucker reaching for a phone or other device is 6.7 times more likely to experience a truck accident.
•For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.
 
Too graphic? I say, who cares. It sends a perfect message. Sure maybe over the top, but I'm sure any parent or anybody who has lost a loved one this way wouldnt say so. The world needs a swift kick in the ass and this is a good start!
 
Tom Vanderbilt, author of "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do," has an interesting take on the word accident, which figures in its usual sense in this thread. Accident has come to mean a car crash, any crash really, even when the crash itself resulted from events that reliably increase its odds. Drunken driving, texting while driving, speeding, etc. are all behavioral choices -- not accidents -- that are often associated with car crashes. The press, of course, uses the word liberally, and in some sense it makes all the carnage and mayhem on our roads somehow more acceptable, as if crashes are just part of living. Yet, when the U.S.'s traffic mortality statistics are at least twice those of other rich countries, one has to wonder whether we can't do better.
 
Tom Vanderbilt, author of "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do," has an interesting take on the word accident, which figures in its usual sense in this thread. Accident has come to mean a car crash, any crash really, even when the crash itself resulted from events that reliably increase its odds. Drunken driving, texting while driving, speeding, etc. are all behavioral choices -- not accidents -- that are often associated with car crashes. The press, of course, uses the word liberally, and in some sense it makes all the carnage and mayhem on our roads somehow more acceptable, as if crashes are just part of living. Yet, when the U.S.'s traffic mortality statistics are at least twice those of other rich countries, one has to wonder whether we can't do better.

Most, if not all, police departments have gotten away from using the word accident. They now refer to them as motor vehicle crashes, I believe. I doubt the general public will ever get away from calling them accidents.

-Shark2k
 
This PSA send the right message.
Brits (I am one) are known to push the envelope, and this is their / our way of doing it.
Reminds me a little of the warning on cigarette boxes. In the USA there's some message about the Surgeon General yadiddhdhdhdhahahahahaha ... BS. You know the one.
In the UK it's simple. Smoking kills.

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teev0006, I would add to your list that a lot of "accidents" are the cause of people driving far too close the car in front.
It amazes me daily how close people behind me are and others likewise.
60 mph and one car length?
 
All this is more reason to go to an auto-pilot car ( google car) as soon as possible.
This will be much safer.


that would ruin driving for me and i will never support that


im a driver, i love driving and i would never want a car to drive itself, a text message can wait, simple


and would you really feel safe in a car thats driving itself? its kind of funny to think about that, when i think about people saying that they wouldnt feel safe in small cars, a car driving itself is bound to make an error eventually, and that error could be fatal, so in terms of safety i'd rather be in control of my car at all times
 
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Holy crap. Definitely too graphic. Which is exactly the point. Thanks for sharing this, it's an excellent reminder to put the phone down (and not to play with the 17" touchscreen while driving, too).

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and would you really feel safe in a car thats driving itself? its kind of funny to think about that, when i think about people saying that they wouldnt feel safe in small cars, a car driving itself is bound to make an error eventually, and that error could be fatal, so in terms of safety i'd rather be in control of my car at all times

Mr X, you're already driving a car that's nearly 100% reliant on technology.

As much as I love driving my Model S, I'd feel much safer if all cars had "Autopilot" such as the one Google has been developing (I hate the phrase "driverless car," so let's not call it that). I'd expect computers to make far fewer errors than humans. Additionally, technology can have safety features that humans never could have, such as instant wireless communication with nearby vehicles, and radar that can see around/through obstacles.

(And yes, a text message can wait. :) )
 
It's a very good video, there's a 'making of' version of it to that really shows the effort they went to, with a very limited budget. I wish that the (non-hands free) use of cellphones would be banned in the US ( I know some states do, but it should be a very clear, national policy), I see so much bad driving, every day, and 90% of the time the driver is using a phones. More often than not, in a car that most definitely has hands-free equipment too. Certainly none of us are perfect, but it would make a big difference.

As for cigarette warnings, ironically the US was the first to impose them, but now lag behind the vast majority of the world, as seen on this wiki page.