You can add dozing and driving to the list of official behind-the-wheel no-no's: A major study released last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that tiredness is a factor in many car crashes (and many near-crashes). Another culprit? Driver inattention. "This important research illustrates the potentially dire consequences that can occur while driving distracted or drowsy," Jacqueline Glassman, acting administrator of NHTSA, told CNN. "It's crucial that drivers always be alert when on the road." In this installment of "By the Numbers," the Daily explores the results of the study, which was carried out by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
1 Rank of "fatigue" on the list of "leading causes of crashes and near-crashes"
4x How many times more likely "drowsy drivers" are to crash their cars than non-drowsy drivers"
20% Number of car crashes in which fatigue was a factor
16% Number of near-crashes in which fatigue was a factor
80% Crashes in which "driver inattention" played a role
1 Rank of cell phone use among the most common activities that cause "driver inattention"
65% Near-crashes in which "driver inattention" played a role
18 - 73 Ages of drivers who participated in the study
4x How much more likely drivers age 18-20 are to "be inattentive while driving" than drivers older than 35
3 Seconds "within some form of driver distraction" in which an accident tends to occur
1 Length in years of the study, which focused on drivers in Washington, DC
100 Cars that were outfitted with video and sensor systems for the study
42,300 Hours of data generated by those systems over the course of the study
2,000,000 Miles driven by those cars over the course of the study
82 Crashes that occurred in those cars over the course of the study
761 Near-crashes that occurred in those cars over the course of the study
The information cited above comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, InsideLine and CNN.
