Confessions of an Auto Body Repair Shop Owner

I drive an average distance each year, perhaps 25,000 to 30,000 kilometers, and I have the same experiences on the road as most other drivers. My attitude toward these experiences,

however, is quite different because of what I do for a living.  On the one hand I get annoyed at distracted drivers; on the other hand I recognize that without them I would probably have to find a different source of income. The growth in popularity of smart phones and

habitual text messaging means that business looks good until

drivers as a group start to behave differently.  Business should be good for a few years yet. Here are some interesting USA statistics that might alarm you.

1. Despite the risks, the majority of teen drivers ignore cell phone driving statistics.
2. Talking on a cell phone while driving can make a teen driver's reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old.
3. 52% of 16- and 17-year-old teen drivers confess to making and answering cell phone calls on the road. 34% admit to text messaging while driving.
4. Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year.
5. Almost 50% of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 are texting while driving.
6. Over one-third of all young drivers, ages 24 and under, are texting on the road.
7. Teens say that texting is their number one driver distraction.
8. Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents.
9. One-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States send text messages while driving.
10. At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone.
11. 4 out of every 5 accidents (80%) are attributed to distracted drivers. In contrast, drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nationally.
12. Texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated.
13. A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Motorists found that motorists who use cell phones while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
14. According to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, drivers talking on cell phones are 18% slower to react to brake lights. They also take 17% longer to regain the speed they lost when they brake.
15. Of cell phone users that were surveyed, 85% said they use their phones occasionally when driving, 30% use their phones while driving on the highway, and 27% use them during half or more of the trips they take.
16. The number of crashes and near-crashes linked to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening. Dialing is more dangerous but occurs less often than talking or listening.
17. Studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.
    The following statistics come from a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI):
18. Of all cell phone related tasks - including talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone - texting while driving is the most dangerous.
19. Teen drivers are four times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near crash events directly related to talking on a cell phone or texting.
20. A car driver dialing a cell phone is 2.8 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-distracted driver.
21. A driver reaching for a cell phone or any other electronic device is 1.4 times more likely to experience a car crash.
22. A car driver talking on their phone is 1.3 times more likely to get into an accident.
23. A truck driver texting while driving is 23.2 times more likely to get into an accident than a trucker paying full attention to the road.
24. A truck driver dialing a cell is 5.9 times more likely to crash.
25. A trucker reaching for a phone or other device is 6.7 times more likely to experience a truck accident.
26. For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.

    Sources:
    http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html

    http://www.vtti.vt.edu/index.html