“Three seconds at 50 mph means driving blind for 220 feet.”
When drivers make phone calls, or read or send text messages while behind the wheel, they increase the risk of being involved in a crash. Pedestrians and cyclists, too, are in great danger if distracted by their phones or when using headphones.
The hazards of distraction are not new, of course, but recently released research indicates that the problem is even more serious than thought: there are a high number of unrecorded cases of collisions due to inattention, distraction kills more road users than alcohol, and important cues about the road situation are often missed.
Those are the highlights of new research recently announced by DEKRA, a company based in Germany that conducts automotive testing, inspection and crash research.
“When we’re bored at home, distractions are more than welcome – but on the road, they’re the last thing we need,” Luigi Ancona, a crash researcher at DEKRA, said in a statement. “The demands placed on us as road users are so complex that we have to give it our undivided attention if we want to get home safe. Multitasking quite simply doesn’t work in road transport situations, as we’re very limited in our ability to do it.”
Distracted driving due to inattentiveness is the cause of one in ten car crashes that result in an injury, DEKRA reported, referring to a study from the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT), that’s more deaths than drunk driving.
“Who would choose to close their eyes for several seconds while they were behind the wheel of a vehicle?,” Ancona said, noting that many drivers cannot resist the urge to check their messages while driving. “The effect is the same,” he added. “If you’re going at 30 mph and look at your phone for three seconds, you’ll have traveled about 137 feet without looking. At 50 mph, it’s around 220 feet.”
There are many problematic activities that can distract from the task of driving in addition to the cell phone, from talking to passengers and attending to children in the back seat to using the navigation or audio system, often via a complex touch display.
“Any secondary activity that causes a driver to lose concentration on what’s happening on the road creates a potential hazard – for themselves and for others,” Ancona warned, noting that the same risks apply to pedestrians and cyclists.
In the event of a collision, people on foot or on a bike are usually in danger of far more serious injuries than the better protected car occupants. For example, people who read or write text messages, or wear headphones while crossing the road often miss important cues from the traffic to help them safely navigate the road, including many auditory ones, like a car’s horn, a cyclist’s bell, a running engine, or an ambulance’s siren, and cannot react appropriately.
“Our complete concentration is required at all times,” Ancona said.
Distracted driving is one of the topics covered in the DEKRA Road Safety Report 2022. For the full report, click here.
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