The AAA has released the result of a study analyzing crash videos involving teen drivers, and the findings are quite alarming. It was discovered that distraction played a major role in six out of ten moderate to severe teen crashes.

The researchers analyzed the six seconds leading up to a crash in nearly 1,700 videos of teen drivers using in-vehicle event recorders or dashboard cameras. The results showed that 58 percent of all crashes were the result of distracted driving, and that number includes 89 percent of road-departure crashes and 76 percent of rear-end crashes.

“Access to crash videos has allowed us to better understand the moments leading up to a vehicle impact in a way that was previously impossible,” said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “The in-depth analysis provides indisputable evidence that teen drivers are distracted in a much greater percentage of crashes than we previously realized.”

The AAA released a Public Service Announcement (PSA) video that features a compilation of some of the footages taken from the dash cams. It showed how the drivers are being distracted and what happens when they get distracted. The images shown are pretty disturbing, so watch at your own risk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=10&v=SDWmwxQ_NnY.

Causes of distracted driving

According to the AAA, the top two driver distractions are interacting with one or more passengers, which accounts for 15 percent of crashes, and cell phone use, which accounts for 12 percent of crashes. Other forms of distractions include looking at something in the vehicle (10 percent), looking at something outside the vehicle (nine percent), singing/moving to music (eight percent), and grooming and reaching for an object both cause six percent of crashes.

For cell phone use, the researchers included calling, texting and use of apps in this category and revealed that the drivers had their eyes off the road for an average of 4.1 out of the final six seconds leading up to the crash. Use of mobile devices also resulted in slowed reaction time, which led to rear-end crashes as they were unable to steer clear or apply the brakes. This study led AAA President CEO Bob Darbelnet to recommend that states review their licensing and driving laws to ensure teen drivers are protected.

“AAA recommends that state laws prohibit cell phone use by teen drivers and restrict passengers to one non-family member for the first six months of driving,” Darbelnet stated.

Tech to keep your teens from getting into an accident

Though mobile use while driving is named as one of the top distractions for teen drivers, even if you tell your kids not to use their mobile device when driving, there’s no telling if they will actually listen to you.

Parents can still use the device their teens love so much to make sure their kids are not texting while driving with some helpful apps and devices, such as The Canary Project, DriveSafe.ly and TextBuster.

The Canary Project

The Canary Project is an app available for both iOS and Android. It can help parents get some peace of mind, as the app monitors and reports in real time if their teen is using their smartphone to text, tweet, call or anything else with their phone while driving.

They can also set speed limits and know immediately if the driver goes over the set limit, as well as set parameters on a map to set which areas they are not allowed to go to and be alerted if this parameter has been violated. Parents can monitor multiple drivers, which means the app can be used not only to monitor teen drivers of the family, but all the drivers in your home.

DriveSafe.ly

The DriveSafe.ly app is a free app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices, with support for Windows Phone coming soon. The aim of the app is to keep a driver’s eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel by reading text messages and emails out loud and automatically responding to them without the driver ever touching or looking at the device.

This allows drivers to stay connected or be on top of important messages and emails without risking their own lives or the lives of other drivers.

TextBuster

TextBuster is a device you need to install in your vehicle. It prevents drivers from sending text messages or emails, as well as accessing other Internet devices while driving, as the device is automatically activated when the car starts.

Though it prevents drivers from sending text messages, it still allows them to make and receive phone calls. TextBuster is compatible with any vehicle and mobile devices running Android and BlackBerry. Another perk of using TextBuster, aside from keeping a driver distraction-free, is that it qualifies car owners for insurance discount.

photo credit: texting and driving via photopin (license)