Police to crack down on distracted driving

Police will be cracking down on distracted driving next month as new research suggests that the problem is even more prevalent among teens than previously feared.

“Access to crash videos has allowed us to better understand the moments leading up to a vehicle impact in a way that was previously impossible,” AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety President Peter Kissinger said. “The in-depth analysis provides indisputable evidence that teen drivers are distracted in a much greater percentage of crashes than we previously realized.”

Using in-vehicle event recorders, researchers analyzed the six seconds leading up to a moderate-to-severe crash in nearly 1,700 videos of teen drivers. The results showed 58 percent of those drivers were distracted in some way, including 89 percent of road-departure crashes, and 76 percent of rear-end crashes.

The 58 percent figure is more than four times the 14 percent estimate previously given by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, whose estimates were based on police reports.

The videos showed the most common forms distraction leading to a crash in teen drivers included:

Interacting with other passengers (15 percent of crashes);

Cell phone use (12 percent);

•Looking at something inside the vehicle (10 percent);

•Looking at something outside the vehicle (9 percent);

•Singing or moving to music (8 percent);

•Grooming (6 percent);

•Reaching for an object (6 percent).

The research shows that drivers using cell phone – calling, texting, and other uses - had their eyes off the road for an average of 4.1 out of the final six seconds leading up to a crash.

Reaction time for teens following cell phone use was also cut down significantly. Those teens in the study failed to react more than half of the time before the impact, meaning they crashed without taking evasive action, like braking or steering.

Zack Martino, an 18-year-old senior at Roxbury High School, was not surprised by the statistic.

“Driving on the road, I see a lot of people on their phones, especially teenagers,” Martino said. “I usually think it is only a matter of time before they get into an accident.”

Martino said he rarely sees his own friends texting or talking on the phone when he is a passenger in their vehicles, but knows distracted driving is a serious problem.

“This is becoming a growing problem because of how generations seem to have shorter attention spans than the previous one,” Martino said. “The only way this can stop is when someone is directly affected by a distracted driving related accident.”

Martino believes eliminating distractions like cell phone use while driving is the key factor in preventing accidents.

“To me, driving is simple when not distracted,” Martino said. “When something like a phone is placed in someone's hand, it is hard to remain focused.”

Kevin Poggi, Driver’s Education teacher at Roxbury High School, said distracted driving is not just a teen problem.

“I see it everywhere, it’s not solely teenagers,” Poggi said. “Just the other day I saw a 60-year-old woman reading a book and taking notes while driving.”

Poggi said while the focus is placed on sending texts, reading texts is just as dangerous.

“Kids these days are so in tune to their cell phones that as soon as it buzzes they have to look, even in the car,” he said. “They just need to understand the consequences. People are aware of the danger but they don’t do something about it until it hits home. And then after a while they forget about it.”

AAA CEO Bob Darbelnet said distractions are made worse for teen drivers because of inexperience behind the wheel.

“Young drivers cannot draw upon their previous experience to manage unsafe conditions,” Darbelnet said, adding AAA recommends New Jersey review the Graduated Driver License (GDL) policy and distracted driving laws in the wake of the new research to further protect teens behind the wheel.

“AAA recommends that state laws prohibit cell phone use by teen drivers and restrict passengers to one non-family member for the first six months of driving.”

The GDL laws allow new drivers to gain practical experience in a relatively safe environment by restricting their exposure to risky situations. Thirty-three states prevent cell phone use for teens and 18 states have passenger restrictions meeting AAA’s recommendations.

In all three stages of New Jersey’s GDL program, new drivers are allowed only one additional passenger unless a parent or guardian is present and are banned from using cell phones, hand-held wireless games or any hands-free interactive, wireless communication device.

Poggi also thinks having too many kids in the car needs to be a bigger focus when discussing distracted driving.

“It’s not just the texting, but multiple kids in the car that’s a big worry. New drivers can’t deal with that distraction,” Poggi said. “Kids break GDL every day. I see students I know are under GDL driving off with full cars after school. I understand the convenience but safety supersedes that.”

Poggi believes something must be done, and in addition to the crackdown on texting while driving, police should be on the lookout for drivers breaking GDL with too many people in the car.

This study comes weeks before 2015 National Distracted Driving Enforcement Campaign begins April 10 through 15, when law enforcement agencies nationwide will crack down on motorists caught texting while driving.

“U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” is similar to the “Drive Sober Get Pulled Over” campaign that runs during major holidays to cut down on drunk drivers, and the “Click It or Ticket” to enforce the use of seatbelts. Statistics show these programs dramatically curb the illegal habits.

“U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” seeks to enforce anti-texting laws by with advertising and designed to let motorists know of the campaign and convince them to obey the law. The program was granted about $8.4 million funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, to help spread awareness of the program and support additional officer patrols.

Randolph Police Chief David Stokoe and Denville Police Chief Christopher announced their departments are taking the campaign a step further by increasing enforcement efforts through the entire month of April. Lincoln Park is also participating in the effort.

Teens have the highest crash rate of any group in the United States. About 963,000 drivers aged 16 to 19 were involved in police-reported crashes in 2013, the most recent year of available data. These crashes resulted in 383,000 injuries and 2,865 deaths

The full research report and video of teen driver crashes is available at https://www.aaafoundation.org/using-naturalistic-data-assess-teen-driver-crashes.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com