Looks Like Google is Right on Distracted Drivers

Burney Simpson

Maybe Google got it right.

More and more Californians are distracted while driving due to the use of cell phones and other electronic devices, according to a study conducted for the California Office of Traffic Safety (COTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley. (Scroll down the landing page for a link to study PDF).

The researchers found that 5.4 percent of all California drivers in 2015 displayed distracted driving behavior due to device use, up from 3.8 percent in 2014.

Young people are most likely to be distracted with electronic devices while driving, with 7.0 percent of all 16 to 24 year olds using such a device, compared with 5.5 percent of drivers in the 25 to 69 year-old bracket, according to the study.

Google has been conducting its self-driving car project since 2009, and its koala cars have been hit 14 times as they have driven near the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. Google has consistently blamed the accidents on distracted drivers.

“Our self-driving cars are being hit surprisingly often by other drivers who are distracted and not paying attention to the road,” wrote Chris Urmson, Google’s project director.

The first-ever injury involving one of the Google cars occurred in July when a car going 17 miles an hour rear-ended the vehicle while it was stopped at an intersection, according to Urmson. The accident is said to have caused minor cases of whiplash among drivers and passengers.

COTS & SAFETREC STUDY

For the distracted driving study a driver was considered distracted with an electronic device when showing any of these behaviors: holding a phone to his ear; manipulating an electronic device while driving; or talking on a handheld device.

Suburban areas are the most likely to display this behavior with 7.3 percent of drivers distracted with an electronic device, compared with 4.7 percent in urban areas, and 3.7 percent in rural areas.

There was little difference between men and women, with 5.5 percent of women and 5.3 percent of men driving while using a phone, according to the research.

The complete results are in the fifth annual version of the Observational Study of Cell Phone & Texting Use among California Drivers Study conducted by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety and the Safe Transportation and Education Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

The study methodology used protocol published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It included observations at controlled intersections with traffic lights and stop signs in 17 California counties representing rural, suburban and urban areas across the state. Observations were conducted from February to April during daylight hours on non-rainy days, seven days a week.

Photo: ‘Some guy in traffic on his cell phone’ by Jim Legans, Jr., 2009.