Schumer Releases New Report Showing Nearly 100 NY Metro Area Teens Were Killed In Accidents Involving Texting While Driving - Calls On Congress To Quickly Pass His Legislation Banning Dangerous Practice

Press Release

Distracted Driving Was the Cause of Nearly 20 percent of All Fatal Car Crashes in 2008 -- Greatest Portion Involved Drivers Under 20 years old

Schumer is the Original Author of the Nationwide Texting While Driving Ban and Today Will Urge President Obama to Back His Bill

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer released a new report showing the severe danger of texting while driving posed to New York City area teenagers. Schumer's report found that nearly 100 teenagers were killed in the New York City area in just the last five years in accidents where the driver was found to be texting while they were driving. According to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, nearly 1 out of every 5 car accidents occurred because the driver was found to be texting or using their cell phone with the greatest portion of those accidents involving drivers under the age of 20. Schumer today will urge President Obama and his administration to back the Senator's legislation to ban texting while driving across the country.

"There are simply too many teenagers being killed in tragic accidents that are very often preventable," Schumer said. "Teen drivers tend to underestimate dangerous driving situations, and as a result, nearly 100 teens in this area alone have been killed as a result of texting while driving. My legislation, which bans this practice, will go a long way in saving young lives from unnecessary accidents. I hope President Obama hears my calls and supports this bill so these tragedies can be prevented."

Texting has now become a major form of communication. Whereas 10 years ago texting didn't exist, now Americans use it all the time. Last December, Americans sent over 110 billion text messages. As technology has evolved and become more engrained in everyday lives, so have the number of ways people can now use their cell phones while driving. A study from the University of Utah showed that college students are eight times more likely to crash when texting while driving. The same study also found that drivers take their eyes off the road for about 5 seconds when texting. While that may not seem like a long time, cars can travel over 100 yards in that amount of time. A study by Car and Driver Magazine found that texting while driving is actually more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol. Unfortunately, texting while driving has been especially dangerous for teenagers, 16% of all under-20 drivers in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Distraction from the primary task of driving pres­ents a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2008, 5,870 people lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the crash report. While these numbers are significant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of distraction and its role in the crash by law enforcement can be very difficult.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been researching driver distraction with respect to both behavioral and vehicle safety countermea­sures in an effort to understand and mitigate crashes asso­ciated with driver distraction. In development of these countermeasures, the following data provide some per­spective into the size of the problem of driver distraction:

* Driver distraction was reported to have been involved in 16% of all fatal crashes in 2008 according to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
* The age group with the greatest proportion of dis­tracted drivers was the under-20 age group--16% of all under-20 drivers in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving.
* An estimated 21% of injury crashes were reported to have involved distracted driving, according to data from the General Estimates System (GES).
* Based on data from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS), a nationally representa­tive survey, of the crashes in which the critical reason for the crash was attributed to the driver, approximately 18% involved distraction.
* During the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, driver involvement in secondary tasks contributed to over 22% of all crashes and near-crashes recorded during the study period.

Americans have been using cell phones and other electronic devices to sent text messages and emails with increasing frequency in recent years. A 2008 study by Nationwide Insurance found that 20% of American drivers send text messages while driving. And while texting and e-mails are extremely valuable to individuals through the country, these services are incredibly risky when used by a motor vehicle operator. A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found operators of motor vehicles who sent text messages while driving had a collision risk 23 times greater when they were texting than when they were not texting.

And another study by the University of Utah found that college students using a driving simulator were eight times more likely to have an accident when texting. Recently, the American Medical Association identified texting while driving as a public health risk and cited a study that found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.

This summer, Schumer introduced the ALERT Drivers Act, which would mandate that states pass laws banning texting while driving. It requires states to enact bans that meet federally set minimum standards or else lose 25% of their federal highway funding. States would have two years from the passage of the bill to comply with the federal law before any financial penalty would take effect.

Currently, many states, such as Alaska and Louisiana, already have bans. In New York, are Governor Paterson signed a texting ban into law, which will take effect on November 1.

Some states have passed even tougher driving laws. This summer, Maine legislators attempted to curb a trend that causes nearly 12,000 car accidents a year. They made it illegal to do anything while driving that wasn't necessary to the operation of the vehicle. They are telling drivers to throw all these dangerous activities out the window and focus on the road. But it remains the case that fewer than 20 states have banned texting while driving.

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