Deaths due to distracted driving may be underreported

May 31, 2013 (Press-News.org) Deaths due to distracted driving may be underreported

Article provided by Kamensky Cohen & Riechelson
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In recent years, safety experts, lawmakers and even U.S. Department of Transportation head Ray LaHood have spoken out against the dangers of distracted driving. No matter the behavior - be it texting while driving or talking on a cell phone while behind the wheel - everyone agrees that driving while distracted is extremely dangerous. A new study indicates, however, that the practice may, in fact, be far deadlier than previously believed.

The National Safety Council, a safety advocacy group, recently released an analysis of state and federal statistics related to car accidents involving distracted driving. The NSC reviewed reports of 180 fatal crashes from 2009 to 2011 where there was strong evidence that driver cell phone use was a factor in the accident. Of the fatal crashes reviewed from 2009, only eight percent were coded in federal data as involving cell phone use. Approximately 35 percent of crashes from 2010 and 52 percent from 2011 were marked as involving cell phones.

The review of crash data has led researchers at the NSC to believe that the number of cell phone related car crashes in the U.S. is far greater than what is being reported in official statistics. Researchers discovered that in about 50 percent of cases where the driver admitted to authorities that he had been using his cell phone when he crashed, the information was not properly recorded in the federal statistics. Researchers also discovered that the ways in which individual states report car accident data vary widely. For example, the state of Tennessee reported 93 fatal cell phone related crashes in 2011. The state of New York, however, which has a much larger population, reported only one such fatality. Similarly, Texas reported 40 cell phone related fatalities in 2011, while Louisiana reported none. These differences would seem to indicate that the incidence of cell phone related crashes is simply not being reported correctly from state to state.

In all, researchers at the NSC estimate that roughly 25 percent of all car accidents in the U.S. involve cell phone use. While further research is necessary, it is clear that better reporting systems are needed to accurately record the incidence of distracted driving related accidents. More accurate reporting and coding systems can help lawmakers and regulatory agencies such as the DOT make better decisions about how best to address distracted driving behaviors. It very well may be that the problem of distracted driving deserves more attention than it has already received.