Multitasking Behind The Wheel Like Driving Blindfolded

Multitasking Behind The Wheel Like Driving Blindfolded

Multitasking—doing several things simultaneously—may increase productivity if you’re behind your desk. But when you’re driving, it’s deadly.
Distracted driving - - commonly the practice of texting or using your cell phone while driving - - has emerged as a leading cause of highway fatalities here and around the globe.
In response to the growing figure of deaths caused by distracted driving, 32 nations - - including Brazil, France, Japan, Jordan, Spain, Taiwan and the United Kingdom - - have passed laws that restrict drivers ' use of hand - engaged devices. Portugal has outlawed all phone use - - hand - bound or hands - free - - in the driver ' s seat. More recently, the United Nations issued a directive banning its 40, 000 employees from texting while driving.
The numbers are compelling. Know stuff are approximately 600 million passenger vehicles on the road today and 4. 6 billion cell phone subscriptions. According to the World Health Make-up ( WHO ), 1. 3 million lives are claimed every tour as a outgrowth of car accidents, or one death every 30 seconds. That agency estimates that car accidents will climb from the ninth to the fifth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.
The Wholesale Road Safety Cooperation estimates that driver behavior is responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of all roadway accidents. As the figure of ambulatory communication devices continues to rise, more drivers will have access to them, use them and be distracted by them, leading to more deadly crashes.
In the United States, the numbers are dismal.
The State Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 6, 000 deaths and half a million injuries arise annually as a crop of distracted driving.
In response, seven states have outright bans on using any handheld cell phone while driving ( California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington ), as do the District of Columbia and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Wireless headsets are banned for untried drivers ( under 18 or 21, depending on the state ) in 21 states and D. C. Twenty - three states and D. C. ban topic messaging for all drivers, while nine other states ban it for minors and / or new drivers.
The epidemic of distracted driving has lawmakers, regulators and experts play hardball quickly to boost the issue and to manage and enforce distracted driving laws.
Department of Transportation Secretary Gleam LaHood has published he is on a “personal mission” to end distracted driving. “If you have an emergency in your car, fling over, attain your cell phone, speak to whoever you have to talk to, ” he oral in a unripe appointment. “But when you’re driving from one place to another, there is no dossier, either text or phone, that’s important until you get to your destination. ”
Prompted by LaHood, last bout, the Obama administration banned governmental employees from texting while driving and high national contractors and others savoir-faire business with the direction to issue in agreement policies.
“Studies display that when a driver sends a paragraph message, he is looking away from the road for 4. 6 seconds of every 6 seconds he or missy types, ” says Jim Adler, a Houston - based car accident attorney who has followed the issue closely. “At 55 miles an hour, that’s like driving the twist of a football field blindfolded.
“It ' s vital to tote a crystal message to all drivers that multi - tasking - - texting and cell calls - - is dangerous and can cause catastrophic car accidents. Forasmuch as, to some extent, the public must police itself, curb those calls and ‘hang up and drive, ’ ” he spoken.