Highway fatalities declining nationwide, even with motorist distractions

Texting while driving, which President Barack Obama has banned for federal employees, is clearly hazardous. But other driving distractions — like putting on make-up and road rage — are even more dangerous.

At least that is the opinion of most of the 3,000 respondents to a survey by LeaseTrader.com, which manages auto lease transfers. This was first reported in Automotive News.

The survey asked which distraction was the most dangerous. Here are the top eight responses by gender.

FEMALE RESPONSES:

1. Kids in car — 26 percent
2. Putting on make-up — 17 percent
3. Tuning radio — 10 percent
4. Navigation system — 10 percent
5. Weather-related distractions — 8 percent
6. Passengers in vehicle — 7 percent
7. Eating, drinking — 7 percent
8. Texting while driving — 4 percent

MALE RESPONSES:

1. Road rage — 18 percent
2. Eating, drinking — 15 percent
3. Checking out other drivers — 11 percent
4. Kids in car — 10 percent
5. Passenger conversations — 10 percent
6. Reading paper — 9 percent
7. Texting while driving — 8 percent
8. Tuning radio — 7 percent

In an unrelated article, the Wall Street Journal recently reported on “Why Driving a Car Has Never Been Safer.”

Joseph B. White reported, “You may feel a sense of dread on the road these days, watching other drivers gab on the phone and fiddle with iPods. But by one measure, American motorists are safer than they’ve been in decades — though it’s not clear exactly why.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed that the rate of fatalities per 100 million miles of vehicle travel on U.S. roadways is at its lowest level since the government began keeping such data in the mid-1970s.

In White’s opinion, the NHTSA’s recent projected decline in overall traffic deaths for the first half of 2009 was played as a “silver lining to the lousy economy: Fewer people driving to work, fewer people dying on the road.

“That could be true. The raw number of highway deaths tends to drop during recessions, according to government figures. But more significant is the decline in the death rate, or deaths spread across miles of driving — long division that helps smooth out effects of economic cycles.

“Based on the latest estimates, there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled in the second quarter of 2009. That compares with an estimated rate of 1.1 for the first quarter.”

By comparison, the death-over-miles-traveled ratio was 1.48 for all of 2005 — a year in which 43,510 people died on the roads. If current trends continue, it’s possible that fewer than 35,00 people will die on U.S. highways this year.”

Says NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson, “we are hitting fatality rate levels we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago.”

White comments, “Exactly why driving is less deadly isn’t clear, though the trend has been going on for several years. The data don’t explain the cause of every accident nor why accidents that could have been deadly weren’t.

“One factor may be better safety technology. A decade ago, 77 percent of vehicles sold had no side air bags, according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data. In 2009, only 10.3 percent of cars didn’t offer side airbags — and nearly 65 percent did offer head-and-torso-protecting airbags as standard equipment.”

Do you think motorists are contributing to the improvement in highway safety? White believes so.

“And believe it or not, drivers are behaving better, too. More U.S. motorists than ever are wearing seat belts — 84 percent by the most recent government estimates, up from 60 percent in the mid-1990s. ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaigns annoy some people, but they also apparently have motivated many seatbelt-averse people to change their ways.

“Tougher speed enforcement and campaigns against drinking and driving could be holding the fatality rate down as well.”

Let us hope so. However, the projected 35,000 people to be killed this year on the highways is a staggering thought. That’s 35,000 who will no longer enjoy Happy Motoring.

George Spaulding is a retired General Motors executive and distinguished executive-in-residence emeritus at the School of Business and Economics at the College of Charleston. He can be reached at 2 Wharfside St. 2A, Charleston, S.C., 29401.