2013 Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities

Susan GorcowskiOffice of CommunicationsNational Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationApril 2013

Educating to Increase Awareness andReduce Distracted Driving Crashes

• Regulatory Campaign•High-Visibility Enforcement• Public Awareness

NHTSA’s Strategy to Prevent Distracted Driving

TYPE OF SECONDARY TASK ODDS RATIO

Reaching for a moving object 8.82Insect in vehicle 6.37Looking at external object 3.70Reading 3.38Applying makeup 3.13Dialing hand-held device 2.79Inserting/retrieving CD 2.25Eating 1.57Reaching for non-moving object 1.38Talking/listening to a hand-held device 1.29Drinking from open container 1.03Other personal hygiene 0.70 Adjusting the radio 0.50Passenger in adjacent seat 0.50Passenger in rear seat 0.39Child in rear seat 0.33

Odds ratio for secondary tasks in the 100-Car Study

• Primary: Young Adult Drivers 16-24• Secondary: Young Adult Peers• Tertiary: All Drivers

For our program purposes, who are we talking to?

Young adults live in a constantly connected world where multitasking is part of their DNA. This manifests behind the wheel where they recognize that talking/texting while driving is dangerous, but they do it anyway.

What’s the Key Insight?

• Young drivers report highest levels of phone involvement in crashes.• Young drivers are 2-3 times more likely to

send/read texts or e-mails while driving.•As passengers, young drivers are far less likely to

ask the driver not to text.

Key Facts

• “I don’t think singling out cell phones was necessarily the smartest thing to do. I know there are statistics that support it, but has anyone done statistics on how many Big Mac eaters have caused accidents?”

• “I think I’m able to multitask so many different things, that it doesn’t really bother me when I’m driving and on the phone.”

• “If you know the number you’re dialing, you don’t really have to look at your phone to figure out which buttons you’re pushing.”

• “When I’m dialing, I don’t pay attention to the road. I’m looking at the phone, and usually I’m hitting the wrong buttons.”

Focus Group Comments on Cell Phones and Driving

• “I’m not looking up. I’m looking down.”

• “If I’m doing it, I know what I’m capable of and I know how to expect my own reactions, as opposed to somebody else’s.”

• “It depends on who’s driving. Some people can do it, some people can’t. Some people you just don’t want to be in the car with when they’re on the phone.”

• “I, like, order my friends around when I’m a passenger. If I’m driving, I want them to shut up and let me drive. But it’s the other way around when I’m a passenger. I just don’t trust people, other people driving, unless they’re my parents.”

Focus Group Comments on Texting and Driving

Enforcement Social Norming

NHTSA Campaigns

NHTSA Ad: Enforcement

OMG

NHTSA Ad: Social Norming

BAM

Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks.

NHTSA & Ad Council Campaigns

Pedestrian in mall

•NHTSA•Mazda Racing Team•Ad Council•NOYS

Project Yellow Light

StopTextsStopWrecks.org

Distraction.gov

• Campaign tools• Statistics and facts• State laws• Research•Media resources•Material for parents/educators• “Faces of Distraction”

Distraction.gov

•New partnerships•New ads/material• Two-year media buy

What’s Coming?

Questions?

9584-041213-v6