L.A. Fire Chief Millage Peaks offered a sobering statistic Monday as he joined Chief Beck and Mayor Villaraigosa in launching a campaign to stop the dangerous practice of texting while driving: The LAFD responds to 100 traffic accidents a day and 28 percent are caused by someone texting while driving. That’s potentially more than 10,000 accidents in Los Angeles annually that could be prevented simply by focusing on the road instead of your iPhone, Blackberry or cell phone.
The U.S. Department of Transportation tells us there are three forms of distracted driving: Taking one’s eyes off the road (visual), taking one’s hands off the steering wheel (manual) or taking one’s attention off driving (cognitive), any of which creates a greater risk of injury or death while driving. Because texting while driving involves all three, it is the most dangerous form of distracted driving. Other research has shown that drivers who send or receive a text message tend to take their eyes off the road for about five seconds, enough time for a vehicle going at highway speed to travel more than 100 yards. This helps explain why nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving distracted or inattentive drivers last year and more than 500,000 were injured. Researchers found that the most frequent offenders are the youngest and least-experienced drivers – men and women under the age of 20.
Chief Beck noted that it is illegal to text while driving and he has instructed officers to enforce the law. Every time a motorist is stopped for such an infraction, he/she spreads the word to family, friends and coworkers that police are cracking down on the dangerous practice. As the word gets out, more and more people will comply with the law – for their own and others’ safety.
In our fast-paced, multitasking society – where we all feel time challenged – it can be very tempting to read and/or respond to text messages while stopped at a traffic signal or in gridlock. We certainly hope the campaign launched this week will cause people to take steps to avoid the temptation. If you find it hard to resist, try this: Silence your device and put it in the glove compartment until you reach your destination. You will be doing your part to make our streets and highways much safer.
