Grazian and Volpe has been advocating for the victims of distracted driving in Chicago and South Chicago for over 27 years. We have noted the marked annual increase in the incidents of motor vehicle fatalities and serious personal injury caused by car accidents in which the driver has been distracted whether through cell phone use, eating or drinking while driving, texting, adjusting the radio or grooming or putting on make-up while driving. Recent studies have shown that the vast majority of all drivers recognize that driving while distracted is dangerous and are not surprised when told that distracted driving is responsible for more than 5,000 deaths due to motor vehicle accidents and close to 450,000 motor vehicle accidents involving personal injuries.
The uptrend in car accidents due to distracted driving is in direct correlation with rapid rate with which phone applications and technology are expanding.
In June of 2011, 196,000 million text messages were sent and received in the USA which represented a 50% increase over the previous year. A Virginia Tech study of the same year found that a driver is 23 times more likely to crash if driving while texting; and a serious or fatal accident is four times more likely to occur.
Despite these frightening statistics, an on-line survey of 2000 teens between 16 and 19 years found that 86% had driven while distracted even though 84% know that it dangerous and 89% recognize that the behavior reduces reaction time.(2010 AAA and Seventeen Magazine: Ad Council, 2011)
To make matters horrifying, 77% of young adults surveyed stated that they are very confident that they can safely text while driving despite their knowledge of its dangers! (Ad Council, 2011)
