Sarah Mead
Staff Writer
A recent analysis of government statistics suggests that Kentucky is the third-most dangerous state for distracted driving.
“MoneyGeek analyzed federal statistics to determine which states have the highest rates of distracted driving,” said Doug Milnes, CFA of marketing and communications at MoneyGeek. “Intriguingly, the deadliest places were states with wide-open spaces, and not the gridlocked states of California, New York and Florida. The five most dangerous states for distracted driving [include] New Mexico, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Hawaii.”
In 2017 and 2018, there were 6,083 fatalities in the United States that were attributed to distracted driving.
“For those two years, Americans racked up 6.45 trillion ‘vehicle miles traveled,’ according to the Federal Highway Administration,” Milnes said. “That equates to a rate of 0.94 deaths per billion vehicle miles.”
In contrast, Kentucky reported 279 total deaths due to distracted driving. This number equates to 2.8 deaths per billion miles driven, a statistic that is 197 percent higher than the national average.
“I feel [that distracted driving is] definitely a common thing, especially on campus,” said Montanna Roby, sophomore from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. “I know I won’t even mean to be distracted, but I don’t really know my way around Murray so I’ll use my GPS on my phone. I’m distracted because I’m trying to pay attention to it and where it wants me to go.”
Ryan Orr, field operations captain with Murray State Police Department, shared that the best way to prevent distracted driving is through increased education.
“I feel like education and awareness of the dangers of using an electronic communication device while driving would be the best preventative method of combating distracted driving,” Orr said. “Increased enforcement and more restrictive laws addressing operating a communication device while driving would help to reduce the number of distracted driving incidents.”
Increased awareness seems to be helping, as the data shows a decline in deaths from 2017 to 2018 for both the United States and for Kentucky. However, experts warn that it is possible that this data is faulty.
“There aren’t any reliable estimates of crashes, fatal or otherwise, caused by distracted driving,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “It’s difficult to say there’s any downward trend.”
While tests exist to determine if accidents were caused by drunk driving or mechanical failure, it is much harder to prove if distracted driving was the cause. Rader shared with MoneyGeek showed that motorists often deny irresponsible behavior, especially in accidents that result in fatalities.
“I see people on their phones [all the time],” said Halie Smith, junior from Mount Washington, Kentucky. “It doesn’t make it any better that vehicle companies are now making it compatible for people to bluetooth their phones to their car. It’s ‘handsfree,’ but I still believe that it’s distracting.”
Smith also believes that playing loud music on a phone while driving can cause the driver to be distracted.
“Loud music is also a huge distraction,” Smith said. “If they don’t like the song, they have to pick up their phone to change it. When people drive and have headphones, [it] is not safe at all. If they have music in their ear, they cannot hear if a cop or someone is coming up around them.”
Though Kentucky has banned texting and driving, motorists are still allowed to hold their phones behind the wheel.
“I know for sure people still text and drive,” Roby said. “I feel like our generation doesn’t really recognize [that we do it] because it’s just a common thing to use your phone while you drive. But honestly, it’s not just younger people that do it. I feel like it’s also older people that [text and drive]. I feel like it’s not stressed enough how dangerous it really can be.”
Orr encouraged students to make safe decisions while driving.
“If you are going to use your cell phones while driving, please utilize a hands-free system,” Orr said. “No text message or phone call is worth the loss of life. If you need to check a text or make [a] phone call while driving, find a safe place and pull over to do so.”
The Murray State PD can be reached at (270) 809-2222 in the case of an accident.
