Cheyenne
Ms. Smarty Pantsless
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2000
- Posts
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Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 16, 2001
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Convinced that distracted drivers yakking on their cell phones are the cause of most traffic accidents? Hold the phone.
A new study finds that rubbernecking, yelling at your kids or gobbling an Egg McMuffin behind the wheel are more likely causes of collisions than a chat on your wireless.
Researchers for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed more than 26,000 police reports from 1995-98 traffic accidents in North Carolina, where officers detail the type of distraction believed to have contributed to an
accident.
While many people consider drivers chatting on their phones to be a hazard, and surmise that they must be causing a lot of accidents, the study found otherwise. Using or dialing a cell phone was the source of distraction in just 1.5 percent of the crashes.
"It's really pretty minuscule compared to some of the other distractions,like eating or drinking behind the wheel or changing radio stations," said Atle Erlingsson, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association in San Francisco. "Maybe all the concerns about people using cell phones may not be as serious as everybody out there seems to think."
California Highway Patrol spokesman Pete Barra agreed with that sentiment,though he had not seen the study.
"The CHP," he said, "has found nothing to show that cell phones are any more dangerous than any other distraction while driving."
According to the study, the most common cause of distraction, found in 19.7 percent of the accidents, was something going on outside the car -- a jaywalker, a traffic accident on the shoulder, an eye-catching billboard.
Following close behind -- tailgating, if you will -- were eating and drinking while driving. That was blamed as the source of distraction in 18.8 percent of accidents.
Fiddling with the car radio, tape deck or CD player distracted drivers in 11.4 percent of the accidents. Another occupant in the car -- little Buffy spilling her ice cream in the back seat, say -- was the dangerous
distraction 9.4 percent of the time.
A moving object in the car -- anything from a rolling basketball to an unleashed poodle -- took the driver's attention away from driving in 3.2 percent of the collisions.
Then there were the head-slappers. In 1.2 percent of crashes, the distracted driver was paying more attention to such things as TV shows, electronic games and digital organizers.
And anyone who doubts smoking is bad for your health can ask the drivers in the 1.2 percent of collisions who were too busy lighting up to watch the road.
Erlingsson said AAA researchers had not yet completed the study, and that cell phones could yet come in for a greater share of the blame. He noted that cell phone use had soared since 1998. And the total could also be higher in the Bay Area, a cell phone mecca, than in North Carolina.
Barra discounted the accuracy of any study of the relationship between cell phones and accidents, saying there were typically many factors and it can be
difficult to determine the cause. If a driver is speeding, runs a red light and plows into another car while talking on a cell phone, for instance, is the phone the reason?
Distracted drivers are the cause of nearly every collision, he said, and distractions abound -- from car radios and eating to cell phones and in-car video systems and computerized navigation systems.
"There are so many other things we do while driving a car," he said. "What we should be concentrating on is driving -- not flipping through CDs, adjusting the kid's seat belt, dealing with a pet or eating."
Driven to Distraction Top causes of more than 26,000 traffic accidents analyzed by the AAA:
-- Outside object, person, event: 19.7%
-- Eating and drinking: 18.8%
-- Adjusting radio, casette, CD: 11.4%
-- Other occupant in vehicle: 9.4%
-- Moving object in vehicle: 3.2%
-- Using/dialing cell phone: 1.5%
-- Using other device in vehicle: 1.4%
-- Adjusting climate controls: 1.2%
-- Smoking related: 1.2%
Friday, March 16, 2001
------------------------------------------------------------
Convinced that distracted drivers yakking on their cell phones are the cause of most traffic accidents? Hold the phone.
A new study finds that rubbernecking, yelling at your kids or gobbling an Egg McMuffin behind the wheel are more likely causes of collisions than a chat on your wireless.
Researchers for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed more than 26,000 police reports from 1995-98 traffic accidents in North Carolina, where officers detail the type of distraction believed to have contributed to an
accident.
While many people consider drivers chatting on their phones to be a hazard, and surmise that they must be causing a lot of accidents, the study found otherwise. Using or dialing a cell phone was the source of distraction in just 1.5 percent of the crashes.
"It's really pretty minuscule compared to some of the other distractions,like eating or drinking behind the wheel or changing radio stations," said Atle Erlingsson, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association in San Francisco. "Maybe all the concerns about people using cell phones may not be as serious as everybody out there seems to think."
California Highway Patrol spokesman Pete Barra agreed with that sentiment,though he had not seen the study.
"The CHP," he said, "has found nothing to show that cell phones are any more dangerous than any other distraction while driving."
According to the study, the most common cause of distraction, found in 19.7 percent of the accidents, was something going on outside the car -- a jaywalker, a traffic accident on the shoulder, an eye-catching billboard.
Following close behind -- tailgating, if you will -- were eating and drinking while driving. That was blamed as the source of distraction in 18.8 percent of accidents.
Fiddling with the car radio, tape deck or CD player distracted drivers in 11.4 percent of the accidents. Another occupant in the car -- little Buffy spilling her ice cream in the back seat, say -- was the dangerous
distraction 9.4 percent of the time.
A moving object in the car -- anything from a rolling basketball to an unleashed poodle -- took the driver's attention away from driving in 3.2 percent of the collisions.
Then there were the head-slappers. In 1.2 percent of crashes, the distracted driver was paying more attention to such things as TV shows, electronic games and digital organizers.
And anyone who doubts smoking is bad for your health can ask the drivers in the 1.2 percent of collisions who were too busy lighting up to watch the road.
Erlingsson said AAA researchers had not yet completed the study, and that cell phones could yet come in for a greater share of the blame. He noted that cell phone use had soared since 1998. And the total could also be higher in the Bay Area, a cell phone mecca, than in North Carolina.
Barra discounted the accuracy of any study of the relationship between cell phones and accidents, saying there were typically many factors and it can be
difficult to determine the cause. If a driver is speeding, runs a red light and plows into another car while talking on a cell phone, for instance, is the phone the reason?
Distracted drivers are the cause of nearly every collision, he said, and distractions abound -- from car radios and eating to cell phones and in-car video systems and computerized navigation systems.
"There are so many other things we do while driving a car," he said. "What we should be concentrating on is driving -- not flipping through CDs, adjusting the kid's seat belt, dealing with a pet or eating."
Driven to Distraction Top causes of more than 26,000 traffic accidents analyzed by the AAA:
-- Outside object, person, event: 19.7%
-- Eating and drinking: 18.8%
-- Adjusting radio, casette, CD: 11.4%
-- Other occupant in vehicle: 9.4%
-- Moving object in vehicle: 3.2%
-- Using/dialing cell phone: 1.5%
-- Using other device in vehicle: 1.4%
-- Adjusting climate controls: 1.2%
-- Smoking related: 1.2%
