Distracted Driving Problem Lessens, Perhaps

The Department of Transportation issued its report on distracted driving in 2009. The number of car crash fatalities attributed to the problem was only 16% of the total, which means the percentage was level with 2008. This number is based on reports of distracted driving, so it is hard to say how accurate the figures are. The data show that 448,000 people were injured because of the dangerous behavior. A total of 5,474 were killed.

Distracted driving is mostly a problem among the young, who are probably less likely to drive well anyway. They have had fewer years of practice than people over, say, 30.  The reports says that “The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.” Cell phone use caused more accidents among the middle-aged than among other groups.

The definition of distracted driving is by itself vague. “Most of the distracted-driving-related fatalities (84%) were associated with the general classification of operating the vehicle in a careless or inattentive manner (could include cell phones [for States without cell phone identification on the reporting form], eating, talking to passenger, looking outside, etc.).” That means that, to a great extent, the measurement of distracted driving is based on guess-work as much as scientific observation.

The DOT readily admits that its numbers are almost certainly low. People are taking to passengers, texting, playing with their Sirius XM radios, and generally not paying attention to the road and the operation of their vehicles. The inability of the DOT to come up with hard numbers is a shame. It prevents the agency and many state authorities from creating reasonable laws that specifically constrain behavior.

The real trouble is that no one can force people to pay attention to anything.

Douglas A. McIntyre