Over the past 20 years deaths caused by drunk drivers have plummeted, but overall traffic fatalities have increased. Why?

For the first time in 20 years, all of the major indicators of traffic safety-overall fatalities as well as the fatality rates-increased. There are a lot of reasons for this, many of which have to do with drivers becoming more distracted, impatient, careless, and ultimately, negligent.

The intersection of high-tech, in-car gadgets and busy, sleep-deprived people who speed off to work while multitasking has created a perfect storm of highway risks that is reflected in ever-higher traffic fatalities.

To effectively turn the tide on highway deaths, the nation must view traffic safety within the context of negligent driving. Negligent drivers-whether they are speeding, drunk, distracted, or overly fatigued-put themselves and others at risk, often vastly underestimating the danger posed by their behavior.

There is often a disconnect between the public's perception of the danger of various actions, and the actual danger correlated with them, resulting in millions of unknowingly negligent drivers cruising the roads at any given moment. KTBS 3 and KPXJ CW21 encourage you to Let It Ring!

Facts about Distracted Driving:

• Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped. But teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged, because distracted driving is on the rise. (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Study and NHTSA Study)
• While over 90% of teen drivers say they don't drink and drive, nine out of 10 say they've seen passengers distracting the driver, or drivers using cell phones. (National Teen Driver Survey)
• Brain power used while driving decreases by 40% when a driver listens to conversation or music. (Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University Study)
• More than 80% of drivers admit to blatantly hazardous behavior: changing clothes, steering with a foot, painting nails and shaving. (Nationwide Mutual Insurance Survey)
• Drivers on mobile phones are more impaired than drivers at .08 BAC. (University of Utah Study)
• An estimated million people each day chat on their mobile or send text messages while driving. (The Herald)

Negligent Driving Facts:

• In 2005 alone, 13,113 people died in speed-related crashed, accounting for 30% of all fatalities. That’s more people than were killed in drunk driving accidents.
• Research shows that 8 out of 10 crashes are caused by distracted drivers due to drowsiness, reading, applying makeup, or reaching for a moving object, etc. Just looking for an external object for more than two seconds has a higher relative crash risk than driving at the legal limit for drunk driving.
• According to a research study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the risk of a collision when using a cellular telephone was four times higher than the risk when a cellular telephone was not being used.

Safe Driving Tips:

• Don’t drive drowsy – Make sure to get a good night’s sleep before driving, and pull over as soon as you start to feel sleepy.
• Don’t speed – One third of all traffic fatalities each year are speed-related.
• Eliminate distractions such as buckling up, on the move, checking cell phones, putting on makeup, and changing the radio dial.