with a little help from a friends or three,i've come across some interesting research to illustrate what I was getting to in my original post that the observations and conclusion are flawed and agenda focused. From the insurance bureau of Canada itself;
http://www.kanetix.ca/ic_auto_info_auto_articles_64
And the IBC has more than just their on-road trials to back this claim. Did you know that other studies have shown that:
drivers on cellphones—hand-held or hands-free—are 4 times more likely to crash?
nearly 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within 3 seconds before the event?
8
out of 10 crashes where a report was filed with the police, driver distraction was a factor?
during rush hour, drivers are inundated with about 3,000 items to keep on top of, including signs, traffic lights, other vehicles, passengers, pedestrians, plus road and weather conditions?
Is it any wonder then, that a distracted driver might be involved in more accidents and fender benders?
Distracted drivers south of the border
In the US, researcher David Strayer of the University of Utah says that using a cell phone while driving, is like drinking and driving. “The impairment from cell phone use can be as profound as the impairment you see when someone is driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08%”, says Strayer. Strayer also found that hands-free devices don’t improve driver concentration, citing that it is the conversation that distracts drivers.
Distracted driving is such a big problem in the US, that it is estimated that 284,000 distracted drivers are involved in serious crashes each year, according to a new study by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. This US study looked at all of the things that distract us while driving and found that:
29.4 per cent were distracted by something outside their vehicle, 11.4 per cent by adjusting a radio or CD player,
10.9 per cent by other occupants in the car, 2.8 per cent by adjusting vehicle or climate controls, 1.7 per cent by eating or drinking,
1.5 per cent by cell-phone use, and 0.9 per cent by smoking.
How Canadians feel about distracted driving
According to a recent poll by POLLARA, we seem to understand that distractions do not bode well for good driving, but we seem unable to see how this applies to ourselves. In fact, 89 per cent of respondents were concerned about driver distractions, but 60 per cent said they would not stop using their cell phones while driving, despite being told that using a cell phone, in this way, makes them four times more likely to be involved in an accident.
Education to highlight driver distractions for Canadians
To help educate Canadians, the Insurance Bureau of Canada has launched a $4 million multimedia educational campaign to
remind drivers to avoid all distractions while driving – this includes engaging in activities such as: Text messaging, eating, setting up DVD players for others, pocket computer use, and cell phone use. They want to impress upon everyone that both novice and experienced drivers are distractible and that cell phone use isn’t the only activity that can distract us from keeping our eyes, and our attention on the road.
The benefits of avoiding distractions while driving
So the message seems clear. If you are doing anything else behind the wheel other than driving, you should abandon it and bring your attention back to driving. This way, you can avoid accidents that can cause damage, injuries, pain and even death. Obviously safety is paramount, but there are also financial benefits for not driving distracted. By focusing on your driving and keeping your record clean, you have a better chance of keeping your insurance premium from rising – which will likely happen if you are in an at-fault accident. To illustrate, auto insurance quotes, from competing insurance companies, were obtained online in May, 2007 from
www.kanetix.ca. Using a 35-year old driver of a 2006 Toyota Corolla in Calgary, Toronto, Fredericton, and Halifax, the best priced online quote was recorded for each location for this driver with no tickets or accidents, and for this driver with one accident in June, 2006.
To repeat; almost 30% of the distraction experienced by drivers were from OUTSIDE the car.
The law and the research is flawed something fierce, yet try and get it repealed, fat chance.
I'm generally a law abiding citizen and I will obey the law, but DON"T preach to me about the law as it stands. It' f*rked!!
