Tag: distracted driving

A researcher from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) wants Americans to know that traffic crashes are the single most common cause of death among teens in the United States. That’s shocking, but it’s not inevitable. There are concrete steps that we can take to reduce teen crash rates. Those steps include education, engineering and enforcement. “Teen drivers, particularly novice ones, are overrepresented in U.S. fatality and injury crash statistics. The extraordinarily high teen crash rates are unacceptable and it is our core mission to save lives,” said the expert, who

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A recent study for AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety by a University of Utah professor indicates that the “infotainment” technology automakers are increasingly adding to vehicle dashboards is highly distracting. The professor notes that previous studies have noted the problem but that an “explosion of technology” usable behind the wheel is making the problem worse. The problem is not only that automakers are including a lot of this technology but also that it’s becoming more complicated. Instead of a few knobs and buttons, some vehicles now sport 50 multi-functional buttons on

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The data for 2016 is in from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the news is somewhat troubling. While fatalities from distracted drivers dipped by 2.2 percent last year, overall traffic deaths rose for the second straight year. NHTSA cites other forms of risky behavior including speeding, failure to wear seatbelts and drunk driving as responsible for the increase. The safety agency estimates that 37, 461 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents last year. That’s the highest number since 2007. Fatal crashes increased by 5.6 percent over 2015,

Continue reading Distracted driving deaths down, fatalities up from risky driving…