April was Distracted Driver Awareness month. Distracted driving is anything that diverts your attention from your driving. This could be talking on a cell phone, texting while driving, eating and driving, changing the radio station or adjusting the temperature controls within your vehicle.

Texting while driving is against the law in Oklahoma. Oklahoma law requires drivers to give their full attention to the road. According to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office: Texting while driving is a primary offense, which means that a law enforcement officer can pull drivers over and issue a citation solely for texting while driving for which the fine is $100.

The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office compared the numbers of distraction-related crashes prior to the distracted driving law. They found that the total number of distraction-related crashes fell by 125, injury crashes were down 22%, fatalities were down 30% and property-damage-only crashes were reduced by 6%. A 30% reduction in traffic fatalities is quite significant. The new texting ban is preventing injuries and saving lives in Oklahoma.

National numbers - Car crashes involving distracted driving cause thousands of injuries and deaths each year. On average, nine people die and more than 1,060 are injured in accidents due to distracted driving each day in the United States. While texting and driving has received much more attention in recent years and is a very common form of distracted driving, there are many other dangers of which you should be aware.

For the first time since 2007, preliminary data from the National Safety Council show that as many as 42,060 people are estimated to have died in motor vehicle crashes in 2020. That marks an 8% increase over 2019 in a year where people drove significantly less frequently because of the pandemic. The preliminary estimated rate of death on the roads last year spiked 24% over the previous 12-month period, despite miles driven dropping 13%. The increase in the rate of death is the highest estimated year-over-year jump that NSC has calculated since 1924 – 96 years. It underscores the nation’s persistent failure to prioritize safety on the roads, which became emptier but were far more deadly.

An estimated 4.8 million additional roadway users were seriously injured in crashes in 2020, and the estimated cost to society was $474 billion. It’s not all about cell phones. Let’s do our part to focus on safety when we are behind the wheel.

Sources used:
National Safety Council
Oklahoma Highway Safety Office
Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Motor Vehicle Deaths in 2020 Estimated to be Highest in 13 Years, Despite Dramatic Drops in Miles Driven