Just how dangerous is distracted driving?

In 2007 – a year with record high motor vehicle fatalities for Virginia – 1,026 people died in auto crashes.  But fatalities aren’t the whole story.  There were also 145,405 vehicle accidents which resulted in 68,822 being injured, some severely.

Sure, these statistics are bad, but accidents happen, right?  That’s the perception that Virginia officials want to change.  With driver inattention contributing to a large majority of auto accidents in the state, authorities are looking for ways to get the word out to Virginia drivers that their behavior has to change.

Do you know just how dangerous certain distracting behaviors can be when you’re behind the wheel?  Check out this data from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Naturalistic Driving Study, Relative Risk Estimates for Crash/Near Crash Inattention Events:

Driver behavior and associated increased risk for an accident

1. Reaching for a moving object: 9 times more likely to be involved in a crash
2. Driving drowsy: 4 times
3. Looking at an external object : 3.7 times
4. Reading: 3.4 times
5. Dialing a phone: 2.8 times
6. Applying makeup: 3 times
7. Eating: 1.6 times
8. Reaching for a non-moving object: 1.4 times
9. Talking on hand-held phone: 1.3 times

We hope Virginia officials are successful in getting the word out about the dangers and risks of distracted driving.  Even one preventable accident caused by a distracted driver is one too many.