Most deadly times, places to drive

Tom Barlow
Jul 13th 2010 at 2:00PM

An important part of defensive driving is to make good choices about when and where you drive. To help you minimize your risk, we've compiled some useful facts. Putting them all together suggests that you run the least risk of a fatal crash by driving on Christmas Day between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. The risk is even lower if Christmas falls on a Monday.

On the other hand, you run the maximum risk of having a fatal accident by driving on I-95 in Florida on June 10th between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. when that date falls on a Saturday.

Here's a round up of the deadliest times and places to drive based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (data is from 2008 or an average of the most recent three years) and from The Daily Beast, which recently compiled information on the most dangerous highways.

Most deadly days of the year to drive:

1. June 10
2. June 16
3. July 4
5. July 15
6. June 17

Noteworthy finding: Nine of the top ten deadliest days to drive are in late spring and summer.

Least deadly days of the year to drive:

1. December 25
2. February 27
3. March 20
4. January 24
5. January 15

Most deadly days of the week to drive:

1. Saturday
2. Sunday
3. Friday
4. Thursday
5. Tuesday
6. Wednesday
7. Monday

Noteworthy finding: You are 53% more likely to be in a fatal crash on Saturday than you are on Monday.

Most deadly times of day to drive:

1. 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
2. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
3. 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
4. 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
5. 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Least deadly times of day to drive:

1. 4 a.m. to 5 a.m.
2. 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.
3. 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
4. 3 a.m. to 4 a.m.
5. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Noteworthy finding: There is a 52% drop in fatalities from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. and between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Most deadly Interstate highways:

1. I-95, Florida
2. I-76, New Jersey
3. I-4, Florida
4. I-15, California
5. I-10, California

Most deadly atmospheric conditions:
1. Rain
2. Snow/Blowing snow
3. Fog, smog, smoke
4. Sleet/hail
5. Crosswinds

More interesting tidbits:

Over half of all fatal crashes in 2008 took place in rural areas.
60% of fatal crashes were one-car accidents.

In 2008 74.5% of all fatal accidents occurred on two-lane roads. Check on fatalities along roads you drive with SafeRoadMaps.org's marvelous new interactive map to crash data.

Fatal car accidents are down 15% from the peak in 2005, while fatal motorcycle accidents are up by 13% in the same time period.

Opinion: Auto Technology That Kills

Leonard Evans

Special to Sphere

(Jan. 11) -- One of the big news items out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week was technology aimed at bringing connectivity to cars: letting drivers manage streaming music, reply to e-mails, locate points of interest, look up Wikipedia entries, get restaurant reviews and more while on the road.

As MSNBC put it: "Consumers are getting so accustomed to their smartphones performing near-miraculous feats that carmakers have realized that they need to exploit the features of the devices to put some of that magic on wheels."

But this magic will come at a huge price of thousands of needless deaths -- not just drivers under the spell, but also passengers, pedestrians and people in other cars.

It also points to the nation's disjointed approach to traffic safety, which forces automakers to stuff cars full of expensive safety technology and then lets them add distractions that can easily overwhelm any possible safety benefits.

More than 70 years of scientific research into traffic safety has confirmed one thing: What is really important to traffic safety is how motorists drive. The safest driver in the least safe car traveling on the least safe road is far safer than many drivers in the safest cars on the road today. And a safe driver not paying attention to driving quickly becomes a dangerous driver.

We have all driven while listening to the radio waiting to hear, say, a sports result. A minor incident occurs in the traffic, and later we realize we have no idea who won the game. Fortunately, we had enough attention on the road to detect the incident and immediately switch all our attention to driving.

But, as the task competing with driving becomes more absorbing, we risk another case of "I just did not see the traffic light."

That's why cell phone use is already a major contributor to highway deaths. One study finds that a driver using a cell phone is four times as likely to crash as the same driver not using the cell phone. Another study estimates that drivers talking on cell phones cause 2,600 fatalities a year.

Cell phones increase risk because some mental capacity must be devoted to the content of the cell phone conversation, leaving less available for driving. Eyes might also be diverted from the road, generating additional risk.

Driving while distracted is not like drunk driving -- it is far worse.

The victims of drunk driving are overwhelmingly the drunk drivers themselves, and their usually similarly drunk passengers. The majority of drunk driver deaths occur in single-vehicle crashes in the "wee small hours" when most people are asleep.

In stark contrast, the victims of distracted driving are in all too many cases random road users behaving responsibly. Sober drivers, for example, are responsible for 90 percent of the child pedestrians killed each year.

Society must begin to regard driving while distracted by electronic devices as far more serious even than drunk driving, and to develop sensible regulations to protect the public.

That's not going to happen until the federal government steps up to its role of helping prevent you from being harmed by others. And that's not going to happen until it has a strong traffic safety advocate at the helm.

But right now, the agency responsible for traffic safety -- the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) -- is leaderless. After almost a year in office, President Barack Obama has no nominee. Early in his administration, he chose an outstanding nominee, Charles Hurley, who had been head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and understood what was really important in safety. But he withdrew his nomination in the midst of pressure from environmental groups because he acknowledged that stricter fuel economy standards reduce safety.

The auto industry claims that it is well aware of the risks these new connected devices can cause and is taking steps to minimize them.

But that's not nearly enough.

The federal government has in place hundreds of pointless regulations whose only effect is to irritate and constrain auto manufacturers and increase costs to car buyers. NHTSA should make a deal to get rid of all this nonsense and instead enact some sensible regulations about what can be on board vehicles. The result would be that many thousands of lives could be saved.

Having high-tech distracting devices accessible by drivers in moving vehicles is worse than having a six-pack or an open whiskey bottle in the front seat. It's time for government regulators to recognize this.
______________________
Leonard Evans is an internationally recognized traffic safety expert who spent 33 years with General Motors Research Laboratories and is author of "Traffic Safety".

Take Action

All of us can take action to prevent distracted driving. No step is too big or too small when attempting to prevent injuries and save lives. Becoming informed is the best way to start.
Below are some ideas on what you can do:

What You Can Do

Set a good example for your friends and family. Never talk or text on your cell phone while driving. If you are a passenger in a car and the driver is talking or testing on his/her cell phone, ask them to pull over and stop the car or wait until they get to their destination.

Before you drive, turn off your phone and put it out of reach. You can turn it back on when you reach your destination.

Vow to talk only when it is safe to do so.

Set your cell phone ringer to “mute” so you won’t be tempted to answer it if it rings while you’re driving.

Change your voicemail message to let callers know that you won’t talk because you’re driving, but you’ll call back as soon as it is safe to do so.

Drive defensively. Even though you won’t drive while distracted, there are others who do.

Manage your time. Driving and multi-tasking don’t mix.

Remember — driving time is just for driving. Distracted driving can involve using a cell phone, eating, drinking, grooming, using a GPS, radio/CD channel surfing, and reading.

If you make a call and reach someone who is driving, tell them you’ll call them back or ask them to call you when they reach their destination and it’s safe to chat.

If you’re in the car with someone who is driving while distracted, ask them to please put the distraction away until you reach your destination.

Strengthen the efforts to eliminate distracted driving by adding your voice and experience to community and injury prevention coalitions and advocacy groups.

Find out what the distracted driving law is in your State for adults and young drivers. If your State does not have a cell phone or texting ban, or has limited or a weak distracted driving law, become a champion for legislation. Call or write your State legislators and let them know you support distracted driving laws.

What Parents Can Do

Tell your teens that you want them to be safe because you love them, and it would break your heart if they were involved in a distracted driving crash.

Talk to your teen. Tell your teen driver about the devastating consequences of distracted driving. They won’t think it can happen to them, but it can. Know the facts and share it with them. Engage your teens in a dialogue about the problem.

Know the law. Many Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws have cell phone and texting bans for your drivers. Make sure you and your teen driver know the law and that your teen driver adheres to the rules. In addition to the consequences that you have set at home, if your teen violates the GDL law they could have their license delayed or suspended.

Set rules to keep your teens from driving while distracted. Tell them that you will check the cell phone log on the bill, and that there will be serious consequences if they break the rules. Then follow through if they do break the rules.

Set a good example. Turn your phone off before you get behind the wheel, and put it out of reach until you reach your destination and can use it safely.

Remind your teens that a fender-bender for a motorist can be deadly for a bicyclist or pedestrian.

Encourage your teens to change their cell phone voicemail message to let callers know that they won’t talk while they’re driving, and that they’ll call them back as soon as it is safe to do so.

Teach your teens to drive defensively. Remind them that even though they don’t drive while distracted, there are others who do.

Remind your teens that every single time someone takes their eyes or their focus off the road - even for just a few seconds - they put their lives and the lives of others in danger. Ask them how they would feel if they were responsible for injuring or killing another person because they were on the phone.

When you’re driving in the car with your teens, see if they can identify distracted drivers by their dangerous and - distracted - driving.

Explain to your teens that driving skill comes with experience that they just don’t have yet. Tell them that research shows that the worst distracted driving offenders are like them: men and women 20 years of age and under with limited driving experience.

Tell your teens to do their grooming at home. Remind them that the rearview mirror is for checking out traffic not their cute face.

Remind your teens that driving time is just for driving — not eating, drinking, reading, looking for a CD or a station on the radio, or trying to enter an address into the GPS.

What Law Enforcement Can Do

Set a good example. Never talk or text on your cell phone while driving.

Establish a formal distracted driving policy for your agency and officers. Require a ban on cell phone use and texting while driving.

Brief or train officers on the serious dangers posed by distracted driving. Make distracted driving enforcement agency priority. Modify law enforcement training curricula to include additional information related to distracted driving and the importance of enforcing distracted driving laws.

Include distracted driving informational sessions at annual meetings/conferences and other meetings.

Produce a roll call video/DVD for officers.

Actively promote and enforce the distracted driving law in your State. Conduct periodic high-visibility enforcement programs.

Publish distracted driving statistics and information in agency newsletter, web sites, list-servs, squad rooms, etc.

What Employers Can Do

Use the President’s Executive Order banning texting and driving for Federal employees http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Executive-Order-Federal-Leadership-on-Reducing-Text-Messaging-while-Driving/ as a template to develop an organizational policy for your employees. Send a strong, unequivocal signal to your employees that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable.

Create a culture of safety. Make it clear to your employees that the expectation is the that they will NOT talk or test on their cell phones while driving on company time or in company vehicles. Ensure that there are no negative consequences for employees who wait for a safe opportunity to take or return a call or text.

Conduct informal observational surveys of cell phone use at the entrances and exits of your company. Publicize the results as a way to reinforce your distracted driving policy. Provide small incentives such as coupons, music download cards, special privileges like a free day of parking, etc to employees observed driving distraction free.

Have employees sign a contract that says they will not violate the organization’s ban on texting and driving. Include a provision to advise employees that if a crash occurs, the employer has the right to subpoena the employee’s phone records, and if he/she was using a cell phone when the crash occurred, the crash will be considered preventable and the driver will assume all financial responsibility.

Visit the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety’s website (trafficsafety.org) to see what 24 leading companies are doing about company driver cell phone use. Consider integrating some of these policies into your organization’s cell phone policy.

Visit www.distraction.gov to learn more about the state laws that ban cell phone use. This information is especially helpful if your employees travel across state lines.

Many people are unaware of the dangers associated with distracted driving. Visit the “Stats and Facts” http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts/ and “Faq” http://www.distraction.gov/faq/ pages at Distraction.gov to develop materials to support an outreach and education campaign among your employees.

Inform employees who carry work-owned wireless mobile devices that their work phone bills will be monitored, and there will be consequences for those who violate the organization’s cell phone policy.

Use a variety of organizational channels to communicate with employees the company's commitment to safety and health and specifically to the nonuse of cell phones and texting.

What Medical and Health Professionals Can Do

Educate patients of all ages about the dangers of distracted driving during well visits, check-ups, and other visits to clinics, medical offices and hospitals.

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