The Mountain Home Police Department is again partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to remind drivers of the dangers and consequences of texting and distracted driving. The local department will conduct its “U Drive, U Text, U Pay” campaign Monday through Saturday to step up enforcement efforts to catch distracted, texting drivers and enforce distracted-driving laws.
According to the NHTSA, over 26,000 deaths were caused in crashes involving a distracted driver between 2012 and 2019. While the United States did have a slight decrease in deaths from motor-vehicle crashes from 2018, distraction-related fatalities increased by 10%. NHTSA also reported the nationwide number of deaths related to driver distraction in 2019 was 3,142, or nearly 9% of all fatalities. This represents a 10% increase from 2018, or 284 more fatalities.
The NHTSA is also reporting millennials and Gen Z are the worst texting-while-driving offenders as they use their cellphones to talk, text and scroll through social media while behind the wheel. According to research from 2017, drivers ages 16 to 24 have been observed using handheld electronic devices while driving at higher rates than older drivers since 2007. In 2019, 9% of fatalities in teen driving crashes were caused when those teen drivers, ages 15 to 19, were distracted at the time of the accident.
The AAA Foundation is reporting many drivers are guilty of a “double standard” with distracted driving. Statistics from the Traffic Safety Culture Index show in 2018, nearly 96% of drivers believed it was very or extremely dangerous to read a text or email while driving, but four out of 10 drivers admitted to doing so within the last 30 days.
The Mountain Home Police Department and the NHTSA urge drivers to put their phones down while behind the wheel. Anyone expecting or needing to send a text message should pull over and park the car in a safe location. Passengers in a vehicle can be “designated texters” by allowing them access to the phone to respond to calls or messages.
Drivers should also not engage in social media scrolling or messaging. Options include activating the phone’s “Do Not Disturb” feature or putting the phone in the trunk, glove box or back seat until arriving at the destination.
For more information, go online to nhtsa.gov/campaign/distracted-driving.
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