Editorial: Wake-up call for drivers

Sunday, April 23, 2006 | 7:24 a.m.

Results of a new study show 80 percent of traffic crashes involve drivers who are distracted or sleepy - conclusions that were released the same day that federal highway safety officials announced that the number of people killed in wrecks nationally last year increased after two years of decline.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures show that 43,200 people died on America's roads last year, up from 42,636 in 2004. U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the figures illustrate that each year our country "experiences a national tragedy that is as preventable as it is devastating."

While the federal statistics show how often crashes happen, the study released Thursday by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute helps illustrate why most of them happen. Researchers reviewed thousands of hours of video footage and data from sensors that were mounted inside vehicles. The more than 200 drivers monitored were observed nodding off, using cell phones, reading and fumbling around with CDs, among other activities.

Being drowsy - a condition that Virginia Tech officials say is underreported in police crash investigations - contributed to 20 percent of all traffic accidents in the study. Researchers also concluded that drivers were nine times more likely to be involved in a wreck when they were reaching for an object that was moving around the car. And they were three times more likely to crash while applying makeup or using a cell phone.

In studying cell phone use, researchers said the number of near-crashes and crashes related to dialing the phone were almost identical to those linked with talking or listening. This suggests that simply being involved with the phone creates the distraction, and it matters little whether a hands-free headset is being used.

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young notes that Metro Police officers have seen a vast increase in the number of accidents involving Las Vegas Valley drivers who are talking on phones and driving too fast. Road rage is also increasing, Young says, adding that improving Metro's traffic enforcement effort is a top priority.

While an increasing number of traffic deaths is never good news, the Virginia Tech study lends some hope by showing that America's motorists hold virtually all the keys to solving the bulk of this tragic problem. Drivers need to pay more attention to the road ahead and less attention to what is going on inside their cars.