Each year, cell phone distractions cause 600,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries,
and 3,000 deaths.
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– Harvard Center for Risk Analysis |
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| For business owners, the impact can reach beyond the painfully personal and into the financial as well, with crash-related lawsuits potentially bringing their company to a screeching halt. On-the-job crashes cost employers $24,500 per crash, $150,000 per injury and $3.6 million per fatality. Today, smart companies require employees to forego phone and text usage while driving. |
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| – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
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| The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that at any given moment in our country, 812,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. |
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| According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.2 million people die on the roads each year and another 20-50 million are injured. WHO also projects that by 2030 crash fatalities will become the 5th leading cause of death, surpassing HIV/AIDS, cancer, violence, and diabetes. |
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| Using a cell phone while driving – whether it's handheld or hands-free – delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 (the legal limit for drivers 21 and older in all states). |
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| – University of Utah |
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In 2008 alone, crashes caused by distracted driving cost over $40 billion
Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) |
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| The AAA Foundation’s 2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index found 35% of drivers feel less safe today than they did five years ago, and distracted driving was the most common reason cited for this. |
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Using a mobile phone while driving dramatically increases car accident risk:
• Dialing a cell phone increased the risk of a car accident – 2.8 times
• Talking on a cell phone increased the risk – 1.3 times
• Text messaging increases the risk – 23.2 times |
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| – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA and Virginia Tech |
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Half of people in the U.S. admit to cell phone use while driving –
• One in every seven admit to sending cell phone text messages while driving
• 46% of 16 and 17 year old drivers admit to texting while driving
• 48% of 18-24 year old drivers admit to texting while driving
• 67% of 25-34 year old drivers admit to texting or talking on the phone while driving
• 65% of drivers with a higher education text or talk on the phone while driving |
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– Distracted Driver Handbook
Published by the Office of Research and Statistics
July 29, 2009 |
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• 45% of drivers surveyed who used mobile phones in free-flowing traffic on
high-speed roads, presumably when driving requires less concentration.
• 25% of drivers surveyed said they have talked on phones in heavy, fast traffic
• 29% of drivers surveyed reported talking on the phone on snowy or wet
roads, compared with 61% who said they have used phones in clear weather.
• 53% of drivers surveyed reported using cell phones on trips of more than an hour.
• 51% said they talked at intersections
• 45 percent used cell- phones at night. |
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| – Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2010 Survey |
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