Most Distracted Driving Accidents have nothing to do with Cell Phones

In May 2009, Lora Hunt of Morris banged into a motorcyclist, Anita Zaffke, while the former was busy painting her fingernails. This accident illustrated a fact: dangerous driving accidents go way beyond cell phone usage and texting.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, only a fraction of the 5,474 people killed and 448,000 people injured were involved in distracted driving crashes last year. Even then, more attention is payed to drivers talking or texting on their cell phones.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says only 18% of the fatalities were cell phone related. Similarly, only 5% of the injuries were related to the use of cell phones.

People enjoy doing different things while driving their cars. They eat, fiddle with the sound system, play with their pets or even turn around to get at their kids in the back seat, while speeding down the expressway.

Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety says, “I don't think we've made nearly as much progress in those other areas of distracted driving”.

According to him, the nation's highways and vehicle systems are so well designed that they have created a sense of ease amongst the drivers.

Greg Zaffke, whose mother was killed by a woman painting her nails, says. “Attention is 99.9 percent on cell phones and texting and very, very little has been done about the non-technological distractions. There's a lot more out there than cell phones and texting.”

The accused, Lora Hunt was convicted of reckless homicide. She was sentenced to spend her nights in jail for 18 months. She has been allowed to leave jail during the day for work, counseling and community service.