Distracted Drivers Pose Safety Hazard, According to New UNC Study

    CHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 8 Each year an estimated 284,000
distracted drivers are involved in serious crashes, according to a new study
by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center funded by
the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
    "We found that 15 percent of drivers in the study were not paying
attention and just over half of these (8.3 percent) were distracted by
something inside or outside the vehicle," said Dr. Jane Stutts, manager of
epidemiological studies at the UNC center and author of the study.  When
drivers with unknown attention status were removed from the data, the
percentage of distracted drivers rose to 12.9 percent.
    Stutts will testify about the study at a congressional hearing in
Washington, D.C., on May 9.  She will be testifying before the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Highways and
Transit at 10 a.m.
    The study found that drivers were most often distracted by something
outside their vehicle (29.4 percent) followed by adjusting a radio or CD
player (11.4 percent).  Other specific distractions included talking with
other occupants (10.9 percent), adjusting vehicle or climate controls (2.8
percent), eating or drinking (1.7 percent), cell-phone use (1.5 percent) and
smoking (0.9 percent).
    "Different age groups appear to be distracted by different things," Stutts
said.  Drivers under 20 were especially likely to be distracted by tuning the
radio or changing CDs, while young adults (ages 20 - 29) seemed to be more
distracted by other passengers.  Drivers over 65 were more distracted by
objects or events happening outside the vehicle.  Most of the distracted
drivers were male (63 percent), in part because as a group males drive more
than females and are more likely to be involved in serious crashes.
    Researchers used the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's
Crashworthiness Data System (CDS) for the study.  The CDS examines a sample of
approximately 5,000 crashes a year in which at least one vehicle was damaged
enough to require towing.  Federal investigators collect detailed information
about each crash, including examination of the vehicle and crash scene and
interviews with drivers and witnesses.  The UNC center's study used data from
1995 through 1999 and included 32,303 vehicles.

    The University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center conducts
interdisciplinary research aimed at reducing deaths, injuries and related
societal costs of roadway crashes in North Carolina and the nation.  The
Center's research addresses crashes involving motor vehicles, bicyclists and
pedestrians, and takes into account the various human, vehicular, roadway and
environmental components of these risks.
    The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is an independent, publicly funded,
501 (c)(3) charitable research and educational organization founded by the
American Automobile Association in 1947.  The AAA Foundation's mission is to
prevent traffic deaths and injuries by conducting research into their causes
and by educating the public about strategies to prevent crashes.

    For more information contact Emily Smith at the UNC Highway Safety
Research Center at 919-962-7803 or Stephanie Faul at the AAA Foundation for
Traffic Safety, 202-638-5944 ext. 4.  Downloadable graphs and photographs are
available on the website of the UNC Highway Safety Research Center at
http://www.hsrc.unc.edu/ and from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety website at
http://www.aaafoundation.org .

                     MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here
               http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X66808652