Cell Phone Study Proves Car Crash Risk Save

In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers enrolled over 3,500 U.S. drivers, aged 16 to 98 years, and followed them for a three-year period after rigging their vehicles with internal video cameras and devices to track speed and location.  (Citation source http://buff.ly/1VFuti2)

There were 905 car crashes with either person or property damage or both. Nearly almost three-quarters of crashes involved some type of human error, and drivers distraction was noted 68 percent of the time.

A distracted driver whose eyes are away from the roadway created the greatest crash risk.  The most dangerous distractions were using or reaching for a handheld cellphone, reading or writing, reaching for an object, and using touchscreen menus on the dashboard. Using a cellphone, in particular, boosted the odds of an accident by almost four times compared to driving safely.  

Cellphone use can be clearly linked to many crashes. The investigators also found that the risk of crashes rose significantly when drivers were emotional, angry, sad, tearful or agitated. 

We tell our patients to not smoke, lose weight and eat right.  Adding "drive right" to the list would be important and impactful.