Video Highlights South Florida's Distracted Driver Dilemma
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Whether it's talking, texting or eating, distracted driving has become a major problem on south Florida's roads and across the U.S.
In 2013, more than 3,100 Americans died and a staggering 424,000 were hurt in crashes that involved distracted drivers.
SR22Agency.com released a video showing how serious the problem is, setting up cameras along I-95 to single out just how many drivers were not fully paying attention.
As several thousand cars traveled the highway in a 20-minute span, cameras captured 150 drivers on the phone, 17 texting, 12 eating and 6 others distracted in some other form. Those were things like applying makeup, reaching to the back seat, staring at the mirror, etc.
Breaking out the calculators, the numbers show that of the 2,000-plus cars that went by, about 9 percent of those on the road were preoccupied with something other than maintaining complete focus behind the wheel.
No surprise that the U.S. Department of Transportation says teenagers 15 to 19 are the worst offenders of driver inattention. 10 percent of all fatal crashes in this age group were reported as distracted driving incidents at the time.
Now considering that it is not illegal to use your phone in Florida while driving, many could argue that they can maintain a safe level of driving while using their phone, like they could while listening to the radio.
However, while you may be able to take the wheel with a burger in one hand and a smart phone in the other, how comfortable are you knowing that the guy in the lane next to you may be, as well?
