Distracted Driving Overview
2011 Annual Region II Conference
Charlotte, North Carolina
Amy Schick
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Distracted Driving Problem
In 2009, nearly 5,550 people were killed and an
additional 448,000 were injured in crashes involving
distraction, accounting for 16% of fatal crashes.
An estimated 20% of injury crashes were reported to
have involved distraction.
Distracted Driving Defined
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Three Types of
Distraction:
Visual - Eyes off
the road
Distraction is anything that can take visual,
manual or cognitive resources away from
the driving task.
Distraction occurs when drivers divert their
attention from the driving task.
Manual - Hands
off the wheel
Cognitive - Mind
off the driving task
Spectrum of Distraction
Listening to the radio
Texting
Texting combines all 3 types of distraction:
manual, visual and cognitive distraction
Growing Popularity of Cell Phones

About 302 million Americans (96% of all Americans) owned
cell phones in 2010, compared to only 1 million in 1987

The National Health Interview Survey found that nearly one
in four households were wireless only (no land line), up
nearly 2 percentage points from the year before

The popularity of text messaging has increased to 2 trillion
in 2010, a 31% rise

Multiple media service (MMS) increased 64% since 2009 to
56.6 billion annually. MMS allows users to send videos,
pictures, text pages, and ringtones. At the same time,
minutes of use increased to 2.2 trillion.
Relative Risk
Most crashes involve a relatively
unique set of circumstances that make
precise calculations of risk for engaging
in different behaviors very difficult.
Available research does not allow us to precisely determine
what is the riskiest behavior. Different studies and analyses
have arrived at different relative risk estimates for different
tasks. However, they all show elevated risk when the driver
is distracted.
Greater Exposure = Greater Risk
Distracted Driving
Equal Opportunity Problem

At any given moment during the daylight
hours, over 672,000 vehicles are being
driven by someone using a hand-held cell
phone.
Driver Distraction
impacts:
•Men and women
•People of all ages
•All Vehicle types

People of all ages are using a variety of
hand-held devices, such as cell phones,
mp3 players, personal digital assistants,
and navigation devices, when they are
behind the wheel.
State Text Messaging Bans
June 2011
ME
WA
ND
MT
VT
NH
MN
OR
ID
WI
SD
WY
UT
CA
AZ
CO
IL
KS
OK
NM
IN
MO
MA
CT RI
MI
IA
NE
NV
NY
PA
OH
NJ
DE
MD
WV
VA
KY
DC
NC
TN
SC
AR
MS
AL
GA
TX
LA
AK
FL
PR
Primary
HI
(all drivers)
Secondary
(all drivers)
Novice Drivers - Primary
Distracted Driving Laws
Hand Held Cell Phone
Bans in the U.S.
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Maryland
District of Columbia
New Jersey
New York
Oregon
Washington
Virgin Islands
Except for
Maryland, all
these laws are
primary
enforcement—
An officer may
cite a driver for
using a handheld
cell phone
without any other
traffic offense
taking place
NHTSA Driver Distraction Program Plan
NHTSA has implemented a multi-year
Distraction Plan and Research Agenda that
will further examine driver communications
and entertainment devices, including cell
phones, and will also continue to monitor the
research of others on this subject.
NHTSA’s Driver Distraction Program Plan
NHTSA Goal: Eliminate Crashes Due to Distraction
Distracted Driving Initiative 1
Improve the understanding of the problem: Improve police
reporting, analyze additional crash data, continue observational,
awareness, hazard anticipation, and naturalistic studies, etc.
Distracted Driving Initiative 2
Reduce workload from interfaces: Develop test procedures to
evaluate in-vehicle and nomadic devices.
NHTSA will review the extent to which manufacturers are following
basic human factors guidelines as well as guidelines put forth by the
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
Distracted Driving Initiative 3
Keep distracted drivers safe: Improve crash warning systems.
Distracted Driving Initiative 4
Recognize risks and consequences: Assess the effect of highvisibility law enforcement and targeted media campaigns.
Distracted Driving High Visibility
Enforcement Demonstration

In April 2009, NHTSA initiated distracted driving demonstration
programs in two communities to test whether a high visibility
enforcement (HVE) model could reduce two specific instances
of distracted driving -- talking or texting using a hand-held cell
phone.

Syracuse, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut, conducted the
demonstrations.

The demonstrations spanned over four waves:
(March 2010, July 2010, October 2010 & March/April 2011)
Goals and Objective
Test whether a high visibility enforcement
model reduces instances of talking or
texting on a hand-held cellular phone
while driving.

Will the approach persuade motorists not to
talk/text on hand-held phones while driving?

Will law enforcement be able to observe
violations?

Will the approach affect motorists’ perceived
risk of receiving a fine for violating the ban?
Click It or Ticket Model
The approach used in distracted driving demonstration project
was based on the proven Click It or Ticket (CIOT) model.
 This model involves aggressive enforcement activities that are
readily apparent to motorists.
 The enforcement activity is coupled with paid and earned media
developed to alert the public of the enforcement with the end
goal being deterrence.
 These techniques have been highly successful in increasing
safety belt use and reducing impaired driving nationwide in the
past decade.
Eligibility Criteria:
Primary enforcement hand-held cell phone bans for all
drivers
Capacity to participate immediately in a large-scale
demonstration project and contribute the adequate funding
and staffing
Implemented in a mid-size city with a population between
100,000 -250,000 to provide the best combination of sample
size and operational feasibility
Law enforcement agencies within the selected cities must
have a cell phone policy in place for their officers
Tagline and Logo
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Earned Media and Outreach

Earned Media
◦ Articles
◦ Media ride along

Outreach Materials
◦ DDEP Flyers
◦ DDEP ticket folder folders
◦ DDEP lens cleaning cloths
Law Enforcement Involvement

Law enforcement involvement
was the key to the project’s
success.

Uniformity of purpose by all
involved agencies was vital to
the perception of the public.

Mixed messaging was a
common complaint among
citizens.
Hartford, CT Law Enforcement Tactics

The participating agencies had great success with
focused patrols.

This strategy employed the use of a spotter in an
inconspicuous location or dressed in plain clothes.

Law enforcement stressed the importance that the
spotter be 100% sure the drivers was using a
mobile device before notifying the ticketing officers.
Syracuse Law Enforcement Tactics

The participating agencies had success with
roving patrols.

Agencies reported the use of unmarked vehicles
increased their ability to detect motorist who were
texting or talking while driving.

Higher vantage point SUVs in observation
locations were very helpful in increasing an
officer’s line of sight.
Observational, Attitude & Awareness Surveys

Road side spotters

Local Department of Motor
Vehicle Offices for Pre and
post wave awareness surveys
13
What We Learned…
“…Good laws coupled with
tough enforcement can reduce
deadly distracted driving
behavior” – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
What We Learned…

Awareness about cell phone use and texting was
remarkably high.

The messaging campaigns were successful in
disseminating enforcement message.

Enforcement was strong; police in both sites issued a
large number of tickets in both sites, many times above
previous benchmark levels.

Officers are developing best-practices for enforcement
(e.g., observing texting violations is difficult for an officer
who is standing on the side of the road but successful
from higher observation points or SUVs, developing easy
to use reporting forms).
Behavioral Approach
Public Awareness Campaign
Federal Employee Texting Ban
Federal Ban on Texting for Commercial Truck Drivers
Sample Law to Prohibit Texting While Driving
FRA Distracted Operator Final Rule
PHMSA Texting Rule
“Every time we climb
into the driver’s seat, we
all have a responsibility
for keeping our roads
safe by putting away cell
phones and other
distractions.”
- Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood
Statewide Distracted Driving Demo


In FY 2011 NHTSA will build upon the success of the
community-based pilot demonstration projects and will initiate
two statewide high visibility enforcement campaigns
States that have enacted a primary hand-held cell phone and
texting ban* to reduce distracted driving are eligible
*Presently CA, CT, DE, NJ, NY, OR and WA are eligible to participate because they have enacted primary hand-held cell
phone and texting ban

NHTSA will further evaluate the widespread application of the
high visibility enforcement model to ascertain its
effectiveness to raise public awareness about the risks of
distracted driving.

NHTSA is collaborating with FMCSA to incorporate
commercial motor vehicle components into the statewide
demos.
Partnerships

DOT continues to strengthen existing partnerships and
build new partnerships to spread the word about
distracted driving issues, data and resources.

Secretary LaHood and the National Safety Council (NSC)
helped launch FocusDriven, the first national nonprofit
organization devoted specifically to raising awareness
about the dangers of Distracted Driving.

DOT will partner with the Network of Employers for Traffic
Safety (NETS) during Drive Safety Work Week in
October 2011 to raise awareness (thru employee
networks) about the dangers of distracted driving.

DOT will partner with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
to promote employer resources.
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