Distracted Driving in Illinois
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that, at any given moment, 10 percent of Illinois drivers are using a cell phone. After an increase in traffic accidents involving phones and other distractions, the Distracted Drivers Task Force was commissioned to study the problem of distracted driving in Illinois.
A 2006 NHTSA study found that the leading factor in crashes and near-crashes was driver inattention in the 3 seconds preceding the event. The same study found that dialing a handheld device triples a driver’s chance of being involved in a crash, and that listening or talking on a handheld device increases a driver’s risk by 1.3 times.
Based on witness testimony, the Distracted Drivers Task Force recommended making texting while driving illegal. The task force further recommended that the Illinois Department of Transportation collect and publish information on the relationship between distracted driving and vehicle crashes, as there is currently no data on how often Illinois drivers are distracted, and how many of the vehicle crashes in Illinois involve cell phones or other distractions.
Source:
Distracted Drivers Task Force Final Report
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/traffic_safety/ddtaskforcefinalreport08.pdf
