Overview

Impaired Driving

In 2003, the year END was organized, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 15,423 alcohol-related deaths occurred, meaning that in each of these crashes the driver’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was at least 0.01 percent.¹ In fact, alcohol-related deaths represented 36 percent of all crash fatalities that year. Five years later, in 2008, NHTSA reported that there were 13,846 alcohol-related deaths, or 37 percent of all crash fatalities.² While the total number of victims dropped by 10 percent between 2003 and 2008, the percentage of alcohol-related fatalities in that period remained the same.

Alcohol-impaired means that the individual’s BAC is 0.08 or higher.³ Young drivers tend to hold the highest rate of alcohol-impaired crash fatalities. In 2007, 46 percent of drivers aged 21 to 24 who died in crashes were alcohol impaired, compared to only 5% of drivers aged over 74.⁴

While the overall rate of crash fatalities declined from 2003 to 2008, other serious and deadly driving behaviors remain underreported and unaddressed. National public education campaigns highlighting stringent state legislation have had success in decreasing the instances of drunk driving accidents, but drugged driving continues to cause injuries and deaths without raising significant public concern.

A study of patients in a Maryland Level-1 shock trauma center found that 51 percent of seriously injured drivers had consumed drugs while only 31 percent had consumed alcohol.⁵ Additionally, 52 percent of drivers who tested positive for alcohol also tested positive for at least one drug.⁶ In a 2008 survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 12 percent of high school seniors admitted to driving under the influence of marijuana in the two weeks prior to the survey.⁷ The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that 10 million people age 12 and older reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs during the year prior to being surveyed. Additionally, NHTSA’s 2007 National Roadside Survey found that more than 16 percent of weekend and nighttime drivers tested positive for illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter medication.⁸ This data demonstrates the need for national research into and public education on the dangerous consequences of drugged driving.

Distracted Driving

Driving while talking or texting on a mobile device is now a common practice. NHTSA discovered that in 2007, at any minute of the day, one million American drivers, or 11 percent, were talking on their cell phones.⁹ While the proliferation of hands-free mobile technology has given drivers a false sense of safety, a 2003 study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis proved this perception wrong. It estimated that eliminating the use of cell phones while driving would prevent 330,000 total injuries; 12,000 serious to critical injuries; and 2,600 fatalities.¹⁰ These staggering figures are not surprising when compared with NHTSA research revealing that dialing or texting on a hand-held device increases the risk of an automobile crash by nearly three times, and talking or listening to a device by 1.3 times.¹¹

Most recently, in July of 2009, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) released a breakthrough study that measured the effects of cell phone use by drivers in a real world setting for the first time. VTTI’s study found that texting while driving increases the risk of crashes or near crashes to 20 times that of non-texting drivers.¹² Researchers concluded that any behavior that takes the driver’s eyes off the road is extremely dangerous. They urged lawmakers to ban texting while driving and drivers to refrain from any activity that takes their eyes off of the road.¹³

As of June 2010, eight states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands have enacted legislation prohibiting individuals from talking on a handheld cell phone while driving. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia prohibit novice drivers from using a cell phone in any capacity while driving. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia prohibit school bus drivers from using a cell phone in any capacity. Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and Guam prohibit text messaging while driving for all drivers, as do nine states for novice drivers and one state for school bus drivers.¹⁴ However, no state has a ban on all cell phone use (handheld as well as hands-free) for all drivers.¹⁵ In fact, six states have laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting restrictions on cell phone use by drivers.¹⁶

The cell phone industry has vehemently fought restrictions on cell phone use while driving. For example, California passed hands-free legislation in 2006 after several previous bills were killed through lobbying by cell phone carriers, including Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile.¹⁷

END believes that the dangers of using a cell phone while driving be widely publicized in education campaigns and driver education courses, and the deadly activity must be prohibited by law. Distracted driving is a public health and safety concern. As long as individuals and society as a whole believe that distracted driving is acceptable, we will continue to endanger our lives every time we get on the road.

Drowsy Driving

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year, resulting in an estimated 1,500 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.¹⁸

Drowsy driving falls under the category of “driver inattention”, e.g. diminished attention to activities that are critical for safe driving that is not due to a distraction.¹⁹

Drowsy driving is most similar to drunk driving. In fact, according to a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey of police officers, 90 percent of police respondents said that they had pulled over at least one time, an individual who appeared to be drunk but was in fact sleepy.¹⁸

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