Drowsy drivers the next target of safety group
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a new front in the battle against dangerous driving - focusing on drowsy motorists, the agency's chief said.
Although much attention has been given to drunken, drugged and distracted driving, fatigue is "a huge issue and it's not gotten a lot of attention," NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said during a stop Monday in Chicago.
A Hanover Park trucker was convicted in February after killing a tollway worker and injuring a state trooper while driving without enough sleep on I-88 near Aurora in 2014.
The agency's campaign, however, is not aimed at truckers but at the "rest of us," Rosekind told the Daily Herald.
"Not everyone is drinking or taking drugs (while driving), not everybody texting. But everyone's got to worry about getting enough sleep so they're awake when they drive."
NHTSA researchers estimate more than 100,000 crashes and 1,550 deaths a year are caused by drowsy drivers.
But the numbers aren't exact, said Rosekind, a fatigue expert. That's partly related to difficulty in measuring sleep impairment. "We have breathalyzers, we don't have fatigue-alyzers."
The campaign will involve collecting harder data, public awareness ads, and examining what legal tools police and prosecutors need for prevention.
Just a few states have drowsy-driving laws. New Jersey, for example, allows authorities to charge drivers with vehicular homicide if they kill someone after not sleeping in 24 hours.
The Daily Herald last fall found more than 1,000 drivers breaking Illinois' ban against using hand-held cellphones during a one-hour survey of 10 suburban intersections.
The findings didn't surprise Rosekind. Drivers are "doing everything - texting, talking and taking photos ... it's scary."
While the National Transportation Safety Board, where Rosekind served as a member, supports prohibiting use of hands-free phones or devices while driving, the NHTSA does not.
Rosekind, who became NHTSA chief in December, said he expects to hold discussions on the issue of cognitive distraction.
Studies show "you can't really multi-task," he said. "Your brain just doesn't work that way."
Asked if he thinks hands-free phone use while driving is safe, Rosekind said "that's the part where there is disagreement (among experts)." But science shows hands-free driving can increase a person's risk of a crash, Rosekind added.
"Where your mind is really matters," he said. "It's not just having your hands on the wheel, it's having your mind in the game - that means on the driving task."