Distracted Driver Fatalities Rise; Smart Phones Are Culprit

Distracted driving is being blamed for fatalities rising more than 10 percent to record levels for the past two years and smart phones are the culprit.

According to the National Safety Council earlier this year, vehicle deaths in 2015 increased eight percent to 38,300 from 2014. The increase went against a trend of shrinking vehicle death numbers over the past four decades.

In the first six months of this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that there were 17,775 fatalities, a 10.4 percent increase from a comparable time in 2015, reported The New York Times.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March, an estimated eight people are killed and another 1,161 are injured in crashes daily because of a distracted driver. The CDC defines distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving.

Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, told National Public Radio in October that technology, such as smart phones, has contributed to those numbers.

"Absolutely, and we know distraction is very significant," Rosekind said about the traffic increases. "The more and more technology that we get offers tremendous value to potentially help save these lives. But there's also the potential to bring more things into the car that could distract us, as well."

The New York Times said the Florida State Patrol was investigating if social media played a role in an Oct. 26 accident near Tampa which killed five people. A passenger in one of the cars recorded a Snapchat video showing the vehicle traveling at 115 miles per hour at one point before the wreck.

A Georgia lawsuit claims that a teenage driver was using Snapchat while driving more than 100 mph before crashing in September 2015, noted the Times.

In October, Department of Transportation along with other agencies announced its "Road to Zero" campaign in an effort to eliminate traffic fatalities over the next 30 years. The effort includes improved driving education, behavior campaigns, and technology that includes everything from seat belt use to driverless technology.

"Every single death on our roadways is a tragedy," Rosekind said. "We can prevent them. Our drive toward zero deaths is more than just a worthy goal. It is the only acceptable goal."

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