Watch the Road!
What You Need to Know About Distracted Driving
Nate Sawatzky
Let’s start with a few questions:
Let’s start with a few questions:
Will the Winnipeg Jets make the playoffs in 2015?
They currently have an 87% chance.
How much do you drive as part of your job?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Never
Occasionally
Quite often
Constantly
Does your company encourage safe driving?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Very much
Somewhat
A little
Not at all
Does your company turn a blind eye to
unsafe driving?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Definitely
Possibly
No
I don’t have to
answer that
Nate’s Background
What do we know about distracted driving?
It’s dangerous:
• On average, almost one-third (29.6%) of fatal
collisions in MB involve distracted driving
• This means that 25 people die on MB roadways
each year just because someone wasn’t paying
attention
• NHTSA estimates over 3000 people died in North
America in 2012 because of distracted driving
What do we know about distracted driving?
• We know more about it than we did about other
road safety issues when they first arose
• Consider:
 The first impaired driving laws in Canada’s Criminal code
were passed in 1920, even though mass production of cars
came much earlier
 Seatbelts were not standard equipment in cars until the
1960’s, and Canada’s first mandatory seatbelt law came in
in 1976
What are people doing with their phones?
• Text-messaging has really only gained prominence in the last
seven or eight years with the proliferation of smart phones
What are people doing with their phones?
What are people doing with their phones?
What are people doing with their phones?
284 million monthly active users
500 million Tweets are sent per day
80% of Twitter active users are on mobile
What are people doing with their phones?
#drivingselfie
What are people doing with their phones?
Mobile phone use while driving survey
(2009-2014)
What are people doing with their phones?
(arrows indicate direction of change)
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
65%
78%
55%
Talk on a
hand-held
phone
64%
What are people doing with their phones?
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
50%
54%
42%
Talk on a
hands-free
phone
53%
What are people doing with their phones?
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
33%
71%
31%
Text
messaging
58%
What are people doing with their phones?
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
48%
65%
30%
Program a
navigation/
GPS system
54%
What are people doing with their phones?
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
26%
48%
13%
Access the
internet
29%
What are people doing with their phones?
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
25%
43%
15%
Read Email
32%
What are people doing with their phones?
All Drivers
Drivers aged 18-29
13%
30%
9%
Update
social media
networks
20%
Distracted Driving: Ipsos Survey
Texting & Social Media Use While Driving
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Saudi
Arabia
South
Africa
South
Korea
India
China & Brazil & Sweden Mexico Australia Canada
United Russia
States
Japan
France
Spain
Hungary
Great
Britan
Distracted Driving
• Cell Phone Addiction
Question for any smokers in the audience: After
leaving this presentation, which are you more likely to
do first?
A. Light up
B. Check phone
Distracted Driving Research
• Virginia Tech Transportation Institute 100-car
study
 Over 80% of crashes and near crashes were
preceded by some type of driver distraction
(within three seconds)
 Visual distraction was a factor in 93 % of rear-end
collisions.
Distracted Driving Research
• Carnegie Mellon University
 37% of brain activity associated with driving
decreased while talking on a phone
Reduced brain activity leads to:
• Inattention blindness: the failure to notice an
unexpected stimulus that is in one's field of
vision when other attention-demanding tasks
are being performed.
Distracted Driving Research
• Traffic Injury Prevention Journal: Cell
Use vs Alcohol Impairment
 Cell conversation was equivalent to .07
BAC
 Texting was equivalent to 0.1 BAC
Distracted Driving Research
• Is especially bad amongst youth drivers
 The June 2013 issue of Pediatrics reports that texting while driving
injuries and fatalities have surpassed those from impaired driving
among teens in the U.S.
 A study in New Zealand found that teens who were driving with one
teenage passenger were 2.5x as likely to crash vs driving alone, and
5.5x as likely with two or more teenage passengers
 Teens who text and drive are 5x more likely to also drink and drive,
and are also less likely to wear their seatbelts
Distracted Driving
• Does not just involve cell phones!
Distracted Driving
• Remember: the most important thing
you can do while driving your car, is drive
your car.
• No text message, phone call, cup of coffee, dropped
toy, or song on the radio is worth the hassle of even
taking your vehicle in to be repaired, let alone
causing yourself or someone else to be seriously
injured or killed
Question: How many of you would
say you are an effective multitasker?
Multi-Tasking Exercise
If you have them, please grab a pen and a piece of paper
Task Switching
Task Switching is a Thief
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Tas k S wi tc hi ng i s a Thief
1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Defensive Driving
• Is the best defense against distracted driving
Agree or disagree:“I am an aboveaverage driver”
Defensive Driving
• Is the best defense against distracted driving
• The majority of people who are asked this
question believe they are an “above average”
driver
• 44% of drivers involved in collisions in MB in
2013 were recorded as being not at fault
Defensive Driving
• Develop a “Proactive” approach
• Anticipate potential hazards
• Avoid potential danger BEFORE it is too late
Defensive Driving
• Helps prevent collisions in spite of conditions
and mistakes of others
What is Defensive Driving?
Driving in a safe and courteous manner
and treating other drivers with
respect.
Alex Heit
Witnesses told police that Mr Heit appeared to
have his head down when he began drifting
into the oncoming lane in the outskirts of
Greeley, where the University of Northern
Colorado is located.
According to police, an oncoming driver slowed
and moved over just before the young man
looked up and jerked the steering wheel.
Police say Mr Heit, a Colorado native who
loved hiking and snowboarding, had a
spotless driving record and wasn't speeding.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technologynews/fatal-text-unfinished-message-found-on-drivers-phone20130412-2hqaq.html
Amelie Croteau
“Her car drifted into the opposite lane
and collided with a truck. The truck
driver didn't have a scratch but
Croteau's body was shattered, along
with her compact car.”
“After marathon surgery and a
coma, she was left paralyzed on her
right side.
While she can walk with a cane, she
spends most of the time in a
wheelchair”
"I was told that I had replied to my
boyfriend who wanted to know if I
had made his lunch."
Source:
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/04/09/paralyzed-exmodel-amelie-croteau-has-texting-driving-warning-foryouth
Questions?
• Remember to Drive Safe!
• 204-985-8770 ext. 1986
• [email protected]