DID YOU KNOW
Inattentive drivers are now responsible for more road deaths than impaired drivers.
Impaired and inattentive are equally hazardous, however, most people would refuse to drive with an intoxicated driver while tolerating a distracted driver. Driving impaired is unacceptable and so should driving distracted.
SPEAK UP
When you are riding with a driver whose eyes are not on the road, or they are not focused on driving, you are not safe. If you driving with an inattentive driver, immediately ask them to focus on the road and drive safe. Just think, when you speak up you help keep – yours, the drivers, the passengers and all the other innocent lives in the vicinity safer. Friends don’t let friends drive distracted!
According to OPP Deputy Commissioner, Brad Blair, Provincial Commander of Traffic Safety and Operational Support – “Since 2009, our (OPP) officers have investigated more than 600 road deaths that involved an inattentive driver. Consider how many of those innocent lives could have been saved had someone else in the vehicle intervened.”
Say something! Don’t be a passenger of a distracted driver.
Need proof?
7 shocking facts that will empower you to #SPEAKUP when you’re are driving with a distracted driver.
- Drivers who text are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near a crash event compared to drivers that are not distracted.
- Inattentive drivers are a contributing cause in approximately 4 million motor vehicle crashes in North America each year.
- Approximately 26% of all crashes involve phone use
- 10% or fatal crashes, 18% of injury crashes, and 16% of all motor vehicle crashes reported to police were affected by driver distraction
- 80% of collisions result as some form of driver inattention (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
- If you sneak a 5-second glance to check a text while driving 90km/h you will have traveled the length of a football field
- Inattentive driving was a key factor in approx. 6 out of every 10 moderate to severe teenager automobile accidents.
Sources:
www.opp.ca
www.nsc.org
www.nhtsa.gov
