Distracted driving is the one to blame for 58 percent of car crashes involving teen drivers, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, after analyzing almost 1,700 crash videos.
The said videos caught the actions of teen drivers during those moments before the crash occurred. It showed that distractions were a prevailing factor in almost six out of 10 moderate to severe types of crashes. The revealed frequency rate is four times higher than the official estimates made in previous police reports.
"Access to crash videos has allowed us to better understand the moments leading up to a vehicle impact in a way that was previously impossible," said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington.
The videos showed that vehicle crashes, particularly those wherein vehicles ran off the road or had rear-end collisions, occurred as a result of distraction. They also showed that the most common forms of distraction were talking with other passengers in the car and using a cell phone, which include talking and sending and reading messages.
Other forms of distraction observed in the videos include reaching for an object, grooming, singing or dancing while music is played, looking at something outside the vehicle instead of focusing on the road ahead, and looking away from the road as one looks at something inside the vehicle.
"The findings of the AAA Report confirm what safety groups have suspected for a long time - distraction is more severe and more common in teen driver crashes than previously found in government data," said Jackie Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
The videos used in the study were part of an in-car system installed by a number of families in the vehicles of teen drivers for the purpose of tracking their moves and their driving habits. The system collects data such as audio, video and acceleration details once it is triggered by the driver when he brakes hard, turns a corner too fast, or receives a hard impact. The video, which could last a mere 12 seconds, can provide data eight seconds before the trigger and four seconds after. The same system is used by over 500 government and commercial vehicles.
"These results are troubling because previous research has indicated that teen passengers and cell phone use can increase the crash risk for teen drivers," said John B. Townsend II, spokesman for AAA.
Photo: Thomas Anderson | Flickr
