New Study Results on Distracted Driving in Commercial Trucks
A new study released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has reinforced the dangers behind distracted driving – This time, when it comes to truck drivers, specifically. The study emphasizes that visual, menial tastes that take someone’s eyes off the road and hands off the wheel – such as reaching for one’s cell phone – continue to pose the greatest risks to everyone on the road.
The study specifically looked at observing subjects in their natural driving environment and how the following impacted safety in general:
- Distracted driving
- The age of the driver
- The experience of the driver
- Drowsy driving
- The length of medical certification card issued to the driver
- The use of cell phones
Surprising Results
The results found that:
- Distracted driving alone was a primary contributing factor in approximately 25 to 30 percent of all crashes
- Singing and talking while behind the wheel was actually associated with a lower risk of being involved in an accident
- The specific activity involving one’s cell phone determined the risk of a safety-critical event occurring; for example, locating, reaching for, dialing, browsing, texting and talking or listening to one’s cell phone were associated with an increased risk of involvement in a safety-critical event by three to four times, however, browsing, holding, and texting were singled out as being the most dangerous of all of those activities
- While drowsy driving was observed in up to 10 percent of the study driving samples, and drowsy drivers were more likely to be involved in an at-fault safety event, there was no clear association between drowsy driving and driving hours
- The first two years of driving a commercial truck are riskier in terms of crash rates, regardless of age
- Researchers also specifically looked at whether there was a correlation between the length of time driving and the risk of an accident occurring and found that there was a significance in terms of the first three hours, but less so between hours three and 10
- In general, the longer the Medical Examiner’s Certification length, the less likely a driver is to be involved in an accident
If You’ve Been Hurt By A Distracted Driver, Contact Our Las Vegas Accident Attorneys
Experiencing an accident with a commercial truck can be devastating: A number of these vehicles outweigh smaller vehicles by more than 700,000 pounds, and the injuries experienced can be catastrophic, if not fatal. This is all the more reason that it is essential that commercial drivers not engage in distracted driving activities.
If you’ve been in an accident, the Las Vegas truck attorneys at Cameron Law can help: Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and find out more.
Source:
ttnews.com/articles/truck-driver-study-distracted
