Survey: Younger drivers more distracted

Nearly a third of drivers under 30 send text messages while driving, according to a survey released Monday, a distraction that statistics show makes them 23 times more likely to crash.

The survey was released by Consumer Reports Monday as the magazine and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood launched an education campaign against distracted driving targeting teens.

Nearly 5,500 people were killed in distracted-driving accidents in 2009, the Department of Transportation found. Driving while distracted makes under-30 drivers 23 times more likely to be in a crash, the DOT has found. Sixteen percent of teenage drivers involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.

"I have four children and I dreaded the day they turned 16," LaHood said at the magazine's Yonkers headquarters. "We know that teenagers think they're invincible."

LaHood offered a broad definition of distracted driving, saying it included texting, talking on a cell phone without a headset, dialing a number or even reaching for something in the car.

The campaign includes a public service announcement, a brochure asking teens to sign a safe-driving pledge and a series of emotional video testimonials from relatives of crash victims on a DOT website, distraction.gov.

The Consumer Reports survey asked 1,026 drivers in November to describe their behavior in the previous 30 days. The poll found that 63 percent of drivers under 30 admitted to using a handheld phone while driving and 30 percent said they had sent text messages while behind the wheel.

Among drivers 30 or older, 41 percent had talked without a headset and 9 percent had texted while driving.

"People should not be dying because of this," said Jacy Good, who survived a 2008 crash in Pennsylvania that killed both her parents. She said an 18-year-old driver on a cell phone ran a red light into the path of an 18-wheeler, which swerved and hit her family's car head-on. They were heading home from her college graduation.

Good, who suffered massive injuries, lost the use of one arm. Now 24, the White Plains resident speaks to high school students about distracted driving.

"How stupid do you have to be to send a text message?" she said Monday. "You're 23 times more likely to get in a crash."

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LaHood called on states to pass tougher distracted driving laws, and to aggressively enforce them. New York and 29 other states have banned texting while driving. In New York, it is classified as a "secondary offense," meaning police must pull over a driver for another reason.

LaHood also called on automakers to reduce the risk for distraction in the dashboard "entertainment centers that are now in just about every make and model."

DISTRACTED DRIVING

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Consumer Reports are urging action to combat distracted driving:

Pass tougher laws: 30 states have banned texting, but, like New York, not all make it a primary offense.

Strengthen enforcement: Strict enforcement lowers offense rates for texting and talking without a headset, officials said.

Simplify controls: LaHood has asked automakers to reduce the risk of distraction and increasingly complicated dashboard systems.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Put the phone down: When you're at the wheel, put your phone in the glove compartment or have a passenger answer it for you.

Don't enable: If you know someone is driving, don't call or text.

Go hands-free: Keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel at all times.

Sources: Consumer Reports; U.S. Department Of Transportation