President’s Message Digital dashboard distractions S Special Offer!


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Tony DeNovellis President and CEO


6 EnCompass September/October 2011 Encompass 7-8 2011.indd 1 5/11/11 10:13 AM www.AAA.com


Some motorists cannot seem to resist phoning, texting, and e-mailing while guiding two tons of steel over Colorado roads. And some automobile manufacturers eagerly supply the latest technology to make it all possible, dazzling cus- tomers with dashboard or even windshield displays. Colorado media outlets frequently ask us about this


trend, and as the nation’s most trusted and vocal advo- cate of motorists, we have something to say. We’re pretty sure that all this display technology is going to make our state’s highways and byways less safe. Perhaps it’s happened to you. A driver cuts sharply in front of you, phone to


his or her ear. Or that driver might be using a hands-free phone. Either way, they’re distracted, nearly causing an accident, and in an increasing number of cases, killing themselves or someone else. The media also wants to know what we think about the latest display


technologies. We tell them what the research shows: Any form of distraction, whether it’s speaking or listening to a mobile device, searching for a radio station, switching a CD, eating a burger, shaving your face, blow-drying your hair, disciplining your children, petting your dog—all of it distracts from the complicated task that is driving. Sixteen percent of fatal crashes and 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009


involved at least one distracted driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Other studies put the number at 18 and 29 percent of crashes involving distraction. A 100-car study found that in 80 percent of all crashes and 65 percent of


near crashes, the driver was looking away from the forward roadway just before the accident, according to a Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) report. The GHSA report cited a review of 33 high-quality studies, which concluded


that “cell phone conversations increase reaction time significantly and that hand-held and hands-free conversations have similar effects.” AAA Colorado supported passage of the state ban on text while driving, a


law that needs ongoing enforcement if it’s going to do any good. Four other states banned texting this year, too, bringing the total to 34 states and the District of Columbia. AAA hopes to see that ban in all 50 states. Beyond these bans, we need partners to educate more motorists on the


perils of distraction. Won’t you join us in this effort? Share this article with friends. Email them a link to the NHTSA study (www.distraction.gov/stats- and-facts/#examination). Talk with them about how they use their phones while driving. Do they turn off their devices and put them away, or leave them on so they can hear the ping of an incoming text or email and check it? That conversation might save their lives, or yours.


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