Distracted driving - Articles

National Safety Council postpones Distracted Driving Awareness Month

NSC postponed events so employers can focus on managing the global coronavirus pandemic

March 19, 2020

The National Safety Council has postponed observing Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April amidst the growing global coronavirus pandemic. For a decade, April has been earmarked to raise awareness of driver distraction, with NSC playing a founding role in the month’s Congressional designation in 2010.

The need for clarity & no distractions

Safety and the “Batter’s Eye”

David Applegate

November 2, 2019

It is called the Batter’s Eye. You can find one in every Major League Baseball park and stadium. But the question is, where are they located? And the next question is, how do they work?

U.S. highway deaths down in 2018

October 23, 2019

Fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents on U.S. highways decreased by 2.4 percent last year, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It was the second consecutive year of reduced crash fatalities.

Sleep deprivation raises fatigued driving accidents

Sleep deprivation raises risk of fatigue driving accidents

Keep your eyes on the road

Benita Mehta

June 3, 2019

Driving while fatigued can be a common occurrence for long-haul truck drivers, and studies have shown it can be as problematic as driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Yet almost a third of people in a AAA survey said at least once in the prior month they had driven while so tired that they could barely keep their eyes open.

An NTSB Safety Compass Blog post

Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, mind on one task

Nicholas Worrell

May 1, 2019

On April 3, I represented the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) at an event kicking off Distracted Driving Awareness Month and California Teen Driver Safety Week, in Sacramento. I challenged California to lead the nation in acting on NTSB’s 2011 recommendation to ban the non-emergency driver use of portable electronic devices that do not support the driving task.

Weekly news round-up

March 2, 2019

The effect of plastic on workers in the plastic industry, Apple’s efforts to resist curbs on distracted driving and amateur video helps a state OSH agency crack down on asbestos violators. These were among the top safety stories featured this week on ISHN.com.

U.S. traffic deaths have decreased

October 5, 2018

After two years of increases, highway fatalities were down last year - and the trend appears to be continuing in 2018. Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that 37,133 people died in motor vehicle crashes on U.S. highways in 2017. That’s a decrease of almost 2 percent from 2016.

A FairWarning story

Study finds Apple’s CarPlay, Google’s Android less distracting, but still not safe

Myron Levin

June 27, 2018

Automakers have packed many of their new models with distracting infotainment features that allow drivers not only to play music and get directions, but to talk, text and use social media while tooling down the road. Now new research has found that two popular smartphone-based systems –Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto – are somewhat simpler and safer to use than the built-in electronics.

Distracted driving: awareness isn’t enough

Many drivers know the dangers and take risks anyway

Dave Johnson

June 1, 2018

Most fear that distracted driving is getting worse. Drivers who report using a cellphone behind the wheel has jumped 46 percent since 2013, and almost half (49 percent) of all drivers report recently talking on a hand-held phone while driving, and nearly 35 percent have sent a text or email.

A FairWarning story

Calif. Conservation Corps failed to heed warning signs before fatal van crash

Myron Levin

May 23, 2018

Early on Feb. 2, 2016, a van carrying members of the California Conservation Corps paused at a stop sign on a country road near the Central Valley town of Reedley. Then the van rolled into the intersection, where it was broadsided by a 40-ton gravel truck and trailer, killing three corps members and leaving another with catastrophic brain and spinal injuries.