Federal Acquisition Service

U.S. General Services Administration

Emily Gartland and Debra FerrisGSA Fleet Safety and National Safety Council Emily Gartland and Debra FerrisGSA Fleet Safety and National Safety Council

July 13, 2010July 13, 2010This presentation was made in collaboration with the National Safety Council

Federal Acquisition Service

U.S. General Services Administration

Embrace Life

This presentation was made in collaboration with the National Safety Council

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U.S. General Services Administration

Crashes are No Accident 6,420,000 auto crashes in the United States in a year 98% of crashes are caused by human error Every...5…seconds.. a car crash occurs

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U.S. General Services Administration

Costly in Dollars $230 Billion dollars annually in the US

The average company pays $740 for every employee each year in off-the job injuries including coast associated with absenteeism, health care and productivity and unscheduled work interruptions

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U.S. General Services Administration

115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States

- one death every 13 minutes.

Leading cause of death ages 1-44

Driving is your most dangerous daily activity- treat it that way

Costly in Lives

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U.S. General Services Administration

Top Six Human Driver Errors

1. Failure to wear a seatbelt

2. Excessive speeding

3. Distraction/inattentiveness - eating, drinking, smoking, radio, cell phone..

4. Incorrect assumptions about other drivers

5. Tailgating/not leaving enough space between vehicles

6. Not checking traffic before pulling out or crossing lanes 6

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Three Types of Driver Distraction

Visual – eyes off the road Crash risk up to 1.5x

Mechanical – hands off the wheel Crash risk up to 1.6x

Cognitive – mind off driving Higher risk due to brain overload

and selective attention.

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Combining Distractions Combination of visual and mechanical

Crash risk up to 3.8x

Combinations of visual, mechanical and cognitive Generally highest risks 3x-23x

– Reading 3.4x– Reaching for a moving object 8.8x– Turning around in seat 8.8x– Texting 8-23x– Cell phone conversations 4x

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Distraction Risk vs. Duration

Most are low risk - eating, drinking, listening to radio, passengers High frequency and duration

Some are higher risk - reading, putting on makeup, reaching for something Infrequent or for short durations

Cell phone use causes the most crashes since it’s high risk and a lot of people are doing it for an extended period of time.

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U.S. General Services Administration

Cell Phones: A Distraction Like No Other

Talking on cell phones increases crash risk 4x More than 100 million people are talking while driving 11% of all drivers at any moment

Result: 1.4 million crashes/year(25% of all crashes)are caused by cell phone use.

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U.S. General Services Administration

The parietal activation associated with driving decreases by 37% with sentence listening.

Brain imaging scientists liken this to plugging in an iron and a hairdryer at the same time,

causing brownout.

Brain Overload

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Inattention Blindness

What a driver in a simulator saw when

not using a phone. What the same driver saw while on a

phone conversation.12

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TUNNEL

Frame of vision of drivers not using a phone.

Frame of vision of same drivers during phone conversations.

VISION

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U.S. General Services Administration

No Such Thing as “Multitasking”

Driving and talking on a phone requires the brain to switch back and forth between these tasks.

There is a “reaction-time switching cost”

One task “primary” and the other “secondary.”

When driving is a secondary task for the brain, driving becomes impaired.

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Hands-free Devices do not Reduce the Risk

• 23 studies reported negative effects of cell phone use on handheld phones. (Horrey & Wickens, 2006)

• 33 studies found effects in reaction time, speed, headway and lateral lane position, for hands-free phones. (Caird, et al., 2008)

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Isn’t it just as dangerous talking to a passenger?

With a passenger: You can rely on many non-verbal cues to understand the other person Passengers can see your driving environment Passengers can serve as an additional lookout for hazards

As a result, passengers actually reduce crash risk for adult drivers

– not true for novice teen drivers

FAQ

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U.S. General Services Administration

Texting while Driving

Texting while driving = 6 times more likely to result in an accident than

driving while intoxicated

Texting while driving brings eyes off the

road an average of 4.6 out of 6 seconds

At 55 MPH, one would travel the length of

a football field, including the end zones,

without looking at the road

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U.S. General Services Administration

Executive Order 13513October 1, 2009

FEDERAL LEADERSHIP ON REDUCING TEXT MESSAGING WHILE DRIVING

Prohibits federal employees from texting behind the wheel while working or while using government

vehicles and communications devices

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U.S. General Services Administration

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U.S. General Services Administration

Solutions to Change Behavior

New policies and laws and strong, visible enforcement of those laws. Cell phone bans in organizations to reduce work-related risks.

Development of technologies to prevent calls and messages from being sent or received from moving vehicles.

Widespread education to change social acceptance. Make it meaningful to each individual

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U.S. General Services Administration

Implement Enforced Policy (or Exposed to Liability)

Dykes Industries: $20.9 million

International Paper: $5.2 million

State of Hawaii: $2.5 million

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U.S. General Services Administration

Technology Solutions Cellcontrol

OBD trigger device, commercially available Key2Safe Driving

An in car device that wirelessly connects with a cell phone through Bluetooth iZup (Illume Software)

Launching soon, handset solution Zoom Safer

Downloadable app currently available for RIM devices. Try Safety First

A chip in phones similar to V chip in Televisions Guardian Angel

Announced in April 2009 Jamming technology – FCC challenges

DriveAssist (Aegis Mobility) Wireless network solution using GPS and WiFi Partnered with Nationwide Insurance

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U.S. General Services Administration

Providing Education Increase understanding of the research

Parents educate teens. Organizations & leaders educate employees. Peer-to-peer viral strategies for teens. Wireless industry reach customers and public. Legislators enact laws.

Develop strategies to change the culture and make it socially unacceptable to use a cell phone while driving.

Use emotion and personal stories.

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U.S. General Services Administration

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What this means to you personally

If all the people in the cars around you were your loved ones, how would that change the way you drive?

Everyone in the cars around you is somebody’s loved one- let’s look out for each other.

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U.S. General Services Administration

We all Have a Story..

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U.S. General Services Administration

No call is worth a life.No call is worth a life.

Bailey, Merideth, Hannah, Sara and Katie

Cady, 16 Erica, 9 Jean and Jay, 58

Jason, 38 Lauren, 17 Matt, 25 Frances, 13 Jordan, 1827

Federal Acquisition Service

U.S. General Services Administration

What You Can Do

• Don’t talk on the phone or text while driving

• Enact a policy covering your employees

• Support legislation to enact bans on cell phone use while driving

• Implement life-saving technology for yourself, workplace, and families

• Educate people you care about

•

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U.S. General Services Administration

Questions for Us?

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