With studies showing texting increases drivers’ crash risk by 2300% – and that texting/emailing/browsing could as much as double drivers’ reaction time, there should be no question that driving is fundamentally incompatible with messing with your mobile phone.
But some people still aren’t convinced – either that texting while driving is seriously risky behavior or that they are themselves distracted drivers. Distracted driving is dangerous and risky, but it’s also totally preventable. A driver using a cell phone while behind the wheel doesn’t find him or herself in that situation accidentally; it’s a choice.
And while the business community is increasingly paying attention to and working to reduce distracted driving, many companies haven’t gotten the memo yet. Our May 2011 distracted driving survey found that 62% of respondents said their companies are tackling distracted driving through cell phone use policies, only half of those companies actually enforce their policies. So nearly 4 in 10 companies are still oblivious to the risk cell phone use while driving creates for their employees – and their bottom line.
Check out these simple tools that help you see for yourself just how much risk and danger distracted driving can create:
- New York Times‘ game to measure multitasking: This interactive game challenges you to successfully navigate around obstacles while reading and responding to text messages on your ‘phone.’ If you don’t already believe multitasking while driving is tough, this game may make a believer out of you (spoiler alert: it’s really hard).
- KPA’s safe driver survey: Green means ‘safe,’ red means ‘risky’: answer this short survey about the many habits of highly-distracted drivers to see if you need to reevaluate your own behavior behind the wheel. Bonus: turn on your volume to hear helpful tips once you complete the survey.
- ZoomSafer’s distracted driving test for fleet operators: Answer these simple, yes/no questions to gauge whether your fleet’s current safety practices are adequately managing the risk created by employee use of mobile phones while driving.
Image via scjody