Keeping Eyes on Distracted Driving’s Toll

The National Safety Council estimates that at least 1.6 million crashes — 28 percent of the total — are caused each year by drivers using cellphones or texting. Sometimes those crashes are deadly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2008, approximately one in six fatal vehicle collisions resulted from a driver being distracted. Following widespread publicity about the hazards of distracted driving medical groups are working hard to make patients more aware of the problem. The most recent effort was started last week by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, whose “Decide to Drive” campaign calls attention to the increasing number of distractions engaged in by multitasking drivers and the resulting toll on people’s lives.