Distracted driving: Can you accept the consequences?

  • Published
  • By Michael Wolcott
  • 377th Air Base Wing Safety
KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. --  Driving in the Albuquerque area demands a driver's attention 100 percent of the time. With so many distractions and hazards on the roads, it is imperative to keep your focus on driving and controlling your vehicle.

There are many external distractions out there already; LED billboards, pedestrians, bicyclists, jaywalkers, scooters, and more. As drivers, we have no control over these external activities, but when we choose to text or make a call, we are distracting ourselves from the primary task of driving and limit our opportunities to avoid the external distractions.

According to a new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report, crashes related to distracted driving caused nearly 5,500 deaths and 450,000 injuries in 2009. This data represents only the tip of the iceberg, because police reports in many places do not routinely document whether distraction was a factor in vehicle crashes.

Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger and bystander safety. Such distractions include texting; using a mobile phone; eating and drinking; adjusting radio/CD/MP3 player; reading, and grooming.

The three types of distractions are: Visual - taking your eyes off the road; Manual - taking your hands off the wheel; and Cognitive - taking your mind off what you are doing.

Texting or calling while driving causes all three.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that drivers who use handheld devices are four times more likely to get into a crash serious enough to injure someone.

Many drivers say, "I can multitask" and think nothing of reading or firing off a "quick text" while driving. But there are consequences to everything we do. The true cost of distracted driving is in the loss of life - someone pays the price of a distracted driver.

Below are some true stories of how distracted driving took people's lives.

- In 2009, Eric Okerblom was preparing to join the Berkeley cycling team when he returned to college in the fall. On July 25, 2009, he took his bike out for a daytime ride. He was killed when a car traveling at 60 mph struck him from behind and threw him 140 feet. Cell phone records indicate that the 19-year-old driver was texting just before the collision.

- Amos Johnson lost his 16-year-old daughter Ashley in early 2010. She was on her way to work when she lost control of her vehicle, crossed the centerline and hit a pickup truck head-on. Although Amos had warned his daughter against cell phone use while driving, she was texting at the time of the crash.

- Shelley Forney became an advocate against cell phone use behind the wheel after her 9-year-old daughter Erica was killed while riding her bike home from school in November 2008. The driver, who struck Erica just a few feet from her home, was looking down at a cell phone before the accident.

Think about those families and their shattered lives the next time you want to text or call while driving - ask yourself: "Can I accept the potential consequences if I cause a death?"