Newswise — Distracted driving is epidemic, according to Despina Stavrinos, Ph.D., a researcher investigating distracted driving at the University of Alabama at Birmingham University Transportation Center, part of the UAB Injury Control Research Center. An estimated 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a cell phone in 2008, according to the United States Department of Transportation. Six thousand people died in distracted-driving-related vehicle crashes, and 500,000 were injured.
“It’s clear that driving while distracted by cell phones, text messaging or other technologies increases the risk of vehicle crashes,” says Stavrinos. Stavrinos’ research projects include studying distracted driving in teens with ADHD and the effects of cell phone distraction in adolescent and college-aged pedestrians.
“Studies done by the AAA have shown that people have a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ mentality, with 58 percent of respondents reporting that using a cell phone on the road was dangerous, yet 67 percent of them admitting to using a cell phone while driving in the past 30 days,” Stavrinos says. “Eighty-seven percent of drivers thought texting while driving was dangerous, almost as many people who thought drunk driving was dangerous.”
“Unfortunately, legislation alone will not solve the problem,” she said. “We need to reach a point where distracted driving is perceived as wrong, in the same light as not wearing a seat belt or driving under the influence. Legislation and widespread education efforts may be the best strategy for combating the distracted driving epidemic.”
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