DriveAssist Program Says “Hang Up and Drive!”
When will it end? The number of people who are involved in vehicular accidents due to cell phone use is growing every year. In 2001, Transportation Statistics Annual Report distributed by the Bureau of Transportation it was reported that by 2001 nearly 120 million Americans subscribed to a cell phone service. and according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 3 percent of drivers are talking on hand-held cell phones at any given time.
Safety First
You would think common sense would tell you that dialing and/or talking on a cell phone while driving puts you, your other passengers as well as those around you at a much higher risk for becoming involved in a vehicular accident due to the fact that you are not keeping both of your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. Apparently, we lack common sense because the NHTSA also reports that of the 54 percent of drivers who usually have a wireless phone in their vehicle, 73 percent reported using their phone while driving (in retrospect, this number is probably higher).
According to a news report from CBS News, if you talk on a cell phone while driving, you are 4X as likely to get into an accident. Additionally, for those who think that hands-free driving is the cure-all for cell phone woes, think again. Researchers have found that while hands-free cell phones allow the driver to keep both hands on the wheel, it doesn’t really make a difference in terms of preventing an accident from happening. Why? Because the accidents are usually caused by drivers being distracted by what is being said in the conversation.
What Do We Do About This?
One man, named Dave Teater, knows all too well about the dangers of using a cell phone to text, talk or dial while driving. His 12-year old son was killed in an automobile accident when a woman, talking on her cell phone, was distracted by the conversation and drove right through a red light. Since the accident, Teater is helping to promote a type of technology called DriveAssist to help curb cell phone usage while driving. Take a look:
I get a lot of crap from friends for not using my cell phone while driving. Anytime I HAVE to use it, my mind goes into autopilot mode and I end up not remembering anything about driving while I was on the phone, it scares the crap out of me.