April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

The Idaho State Police want to remind drivers that it only takes a second for something tragic to happen. If you take your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel for any reason, even for just a moment, it can lead to a serious or even fatal crash. Distractions put not only the driver at risk, but their passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers as well.

* 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).

* Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)

* In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. (FARS and GES)

* The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under 20 age group - 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (NHTSA)

* Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

* Using a cell phone while driving, whether it's hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

We want everyone to make it to their destinations safely. Remember that call, e-mail, or text can wait.