Drivers increase their crash risk nearly tenfold when they get behind the wheel while observably angry, sad, crying, or emotionally agitated.
So finds a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), an organization that conducts research to save lives, time and money and protect the environment.
The naturalistic driving study also determined that drivers more than double their crash risk when engaged in distracting activities that require them to take their eyes off the road. These activities include using a handheld cell phone, reading or writing, or using touchscreen menus on a vehicle instrument pane.
Here’s another disturbing find: Drivers engage in some type of distracting activity more than 50 percent of the time they are driving.
Study method
VTTI’s Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study involves equipping vehicles with unobtrusive instrumentation – including an advanced suite of radars, sensors and cameras – which continuously collects real-world driver performance and behavior.
The latest (second) study, the researchers say, is the first crash-only analysis, resulting in the most conclusive findings to date of the biggest risks faced by drivers today.
Other study highlights
- Traveling well above the speed limit creates about 13 times the risk.
- Several factors previously thought to increase driver risk, including applying makeup or following a vehicle too closely, actually had a lower prevalence, meaning they were minimally present or were not present at all in the crashes analyzed.
The bottom line: When you’re behind the wheel, focus on driving. Period.