1. MS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY DISTRACTED DRIVING IN MISSISSIPPI 2011

2. Mississippi:
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury-related deaths
Highest motor vehicle fatality death rate in the nation

3. Distracted Driving Research:
75% of adults talk on a cell phone while driving
33% of adults admit they text while driving
86.6% of adults have been passengers with drivers talking on their cell phones
53.2% of adults have been passengers with drivers texting

4. Distracted Driving Research:
Younger drivers are more likely to talk and text on cell phones while driving.

5. Texting Distractions:
Visual - looking at the cell phone while reading or composing a message
Manual - holding the phone and typing messages
Cognitive - thinking about the message being read or composed

6. Texting While Driving:
Drivers are at 23 times higher crash risk when texting while driving
At 55 mph, drivers can drive the length of a football field without observing the road when texting.
(Out of a 6-second text, 4.6 seconds are spent looking at phone.)
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute 2009 Research Report

7. Distracted Drivers:
Almost 50% who talked, texted, or ed have experienced an adverse event while driving, such as drifting into another lane or off the road.

8. Distracted Drivers:
76% of survey respondents said they had observed another driver, who was using a cell phone, driving in a way that put others in danger.
4% reported they had been in a car crash or fender bender caused by a driver using a cell phone.

9. Distracted Driving:
Adverse events reported while talking, texting, or ing while driving

10. Distracted Driving Challenges:
Drivers report little risk from cell phone tasks
Teenagers have more confidence that they can multitask
Drivers resist change if they multitask without consequence
Data can not always verify what occurred before a crash
Considerable variability in risk estimates
Driving School Association of the Americas – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Kenneth Copeland

11. Strategic Communications Planning:
Policy driven
Laws, public support
Program driven
Data-based countermeasures
Communication driven
Market research, creative
development
Driving School Association of the Americas – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Kenneth Copeland

12. Countermeasures: Legislation Education Enforcement Employer programs
Technology to limit use
Roadway improvements
Driving School Association of the Americas – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Kenneth Copeland

13. Current Policies and Legislation:
Most states have partial bans on cell phone use.
Mississippi has a texting ban for drivers with a learner’s permit or intermediate license.

14. Current Policies and Legislation:
Most Mississippians support distracted driving-related cell phone bans.
70% support a ban on hand-held cell phone conversations for all drivers
50% support a ban on all cell phone conversations (hand-held and hands-free) for all drivers
84.5% supporting a texting ban for all drivers

15. Policies and Legislation:
Percentage of adults supporting or opposing distracted driving legislation in Mississippi

16. Behavioral Research:
75% of drivers would stop or reduce cell phone conversations except for emergencies if a ban were to be enacted.
80% of drivers would stop or reduce their texting if a ban against texting while driving was passed.

17. Enforcement Issues:
The dangers of hands-free devices have been noted in experimental and crash-based studies, though their use can be difficult to detect.
Bans on hand-held calling and texting might be more easily enforced since officers can visually identify usage of the phone.

18. Partnerships Needed for:
Improving In-Vehicle Technologies
Lobbying and Legislation
Public Education Campaigns: • Paid Media (Radio TV, Website Ads, Social Media, etc.) • Earned Media (Press Conferences, Interviews, etc.)