The National Safety Council (NSC) released its 2012 State of the Nation report in conjunction with Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which addresses improvements made to combat cell phone use while driving. In the three years since NSC called for a nationwide ban on all cell phone use, handheld or hands-free, progress has been made in legislation and enforcement, corporate policy, public perception and technology. The report addresses these five key areas while emphasizing the need for further improvement.

“We are pleased to see the traffic safety landscape is shifting and cell phone use while driving is being addressed,” said Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of NSC. “However, much work still needs to be done, especially in educating the public on the dangers involving hands-free devices. In addition to education, a combination of laws and high-visibility enforcement campaigns will be necessary. We’ve seen this formula work well for impaired driving and safety belt use, and we are confident it will help with this epidemic as well.”

Founded in 1913 and chartered by Congress, the National Safety Council (nsc.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to save lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road. In January 2009, NSC became the first national organization to call for a total ban of cell phone use – hands-free and handheld. On Dec. 13, 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) became the first government agency to recommend a total ban of portable electronic device use for all motorists while a vehicle is in motion. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called for a prohibition of the use of handheld cell phones and is working with automakers to address other forms of electronic driver distractions.

The NHTSA released a new report on texting while driving. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood presented a survey analysis revealing young people are the least likely passengers to say something to their driver if he or she were texting or talking on a cell phone. At the same time, Secretary LaHood also launched a new contest for students to design a social networking icon that will be used in DOT’s distracted driving campaign and encourage young drivers to speak up when riding with a distracted driver.

“Distracted driving is an epidemic on our roadways, and these new findings show that our youngest drivers are particularly at risk,” said Secretary LaHood. “We’re encouraging young people across America to commit to distraction-free driving, spread the word to their family and friends, and speak up if the driver in their car is distracted.”

Findings from the first nationally-representative telephone survey on driver distraction conducted by DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that younger drivers ages 18 to 20 years old report the highest level of phone involvement in crash or near-crash incidences. These young drivers are nearly three times as likely to report having been reading or sending a text or e-mail when such an incident occurred as compared to drivers age 25 and higher. In addition, drivers younger than 25 are two to three times more likely to drive while sending or reading a text message or email. Reports of texting while driving drop sharply as age increases.

The NHTSA survey polled more than 6,000 drivers to assess the public’s attitudes, knowledge, and self-reported behavior related to cell phones. When asked as passengers how they would feel about different situations, almost all respondents (about 90% overall) reported that they considered a driver who was sending or reading text messages or e-mails as very unsafe. However, it also found that younger passengers were less likely than older passengers to speak up. Only about one-third of young passengers 18 to 20 and 21 to 24 would say something to a driver who was talking on a handheld phone, whereas about half of drivers 65+ would speak up.

In order to raise awareness among young drivers about the dangers of texting and cell phone use behind the wheel, DOT’s new Distracted Driving Design Challenge invites teens to create an original icon with an anti-distracted driving message that can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social networking sites. The icon can also serve as a helpful icebreaker for young drivers struggling to speak up to others about the dangers of distracted driving. The contest, which will accept submissions from April 16 through July 31, is open to students between the ages of 13 and 18 in the United States. The winning design will be selected by Secretary LaHood and a panel of DOT experts and incorporated into DOT’s distracted driving campaign.

The full National Safety Council report can be accessed at distracteddriving.nsc.org.

The NHTSA survey analysis, “Young Drivers Report the Highest Level of Phone Involvement in Crash or Near-crash Incidences,” is available at NHTSA.gov. Details for the Distracted Driving Design Challenge are available at Distraction.gov and Challenge.gov.