Insurance industry worries about older drivers with smartphones

In any conversation about distracted driving – especially texting behind the wheel – it is almost always in the context of youthful drivers. After all, they're the ones addicted to their smartphones, right?

Not so fast. Increasingly it appears that a growing number of those heads glancing down at smartphone screens behind the wheel have gray hair. Older drivers are quickly catching up with young drivers when it comes to staying connected while driving.

And it's not just texting. A July 2013 survey by State Farm Insurance found a big jump in the percentage of drivers who own smartphones, particularly among drivers age thirty and older. At the same time the percentage of drivers who access the Internet on their phone while driving has nearly doubled over the past five years, going up from 13% in 2009 to 24% in 2013.

More hands-free talking

The survey results also showed the use of hands-free cell phones while driving has increased, while the percentage of people talking on a hand-held cell phone or texting while driving has become stagnant over the past three years.

This may be due, in part, to the growing number of new cars that have a Bluetooth connection. With this system, a driver may answer a call and carry on a conversation simply by pushing a button on the steering wheel, without removing the phone from a pocket or a purse.

While there has been research that suggests talking on a hands-free phone is also distracting, the same could be said for a driver conversing with passengers. It's all a matter of degree. But it's the growing presence of electronic gadgets among drivers that keeps insurance agents up at night.

Multiple distractions

"As smart phone ownership increases for all age groups, the safety community must ensure we are keeping pace with our understanding of the types of distractions drivers face," said Chris Mullen, Director of Technology Research at State Farm. "Much attention is paid toward reducing texting while driving, but we must also be concerned about addressing the growing use of multiple mobile web services while driving."

While 86% of drivers age 18-29 have smartphones, the new data shows 64% of drivers age 50 to 64 do as well, a 20% jump in two years. Even 39% of drivers 65 and older now have smartphones, the survey found.

Distracted driving is a major concern for the insurance industry, which profits when there are fewer accidents. But while most concede that texting while driving is very dangerous, it's less clear that simply talking and driving is.

Questioning conventional wisdom

Another study from Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, also conducted this year, finds that talking on a phone while driving does not increase the risk of a crash.

For the study, Carnegie Mellon's Saurabh Bhargava and the London School of Economics and Political Science's Vikram S. Pathania examined calling and crash data from 2002 to 2005, a period when most cell phone carriers offered pricing plans with free calls on weekdays after 9 p.m. They compared data from mobile network operators and accident reports and found that there was no direct correlation between the number of phone calls made during a certain time period and the number of crashes during the same time.

"Using a cell phone while driving may be distracting, but it does not lead to higher crash risk in the setting we examined," said Bhargava, who is an assistant professor of social and decision sciences at CMU. "While our findings may strike many as counterintuitive, our results are precise enough to statistically call into question the effects typically found in the academic literature. Our study differs from most prior work in that it leverages a naturally occurring experiment in a real-world context."

For its part, State Farm is encouraging government agencies to continue their high profile campaign against distracted driving, which specifically targets electronic gadgets.

"State Farm continues to support a multi-pronged approach to encouraging more engaged driving," Mullen said. "Legislation, enforcement, education and technology all have a role to play in making our roads safer for all who share them."

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Source: Consumer Affairs (Huffman, 11/13)

Only Underwater Traffic Tunnel in Texas Closes for Repairs Two Years After Accident

The big state of Texas has all kinds of stuff when it comes to infrastructure but there’s one thing you won’t find in abundance, and that’s underwater traffic tunnels. There’s only one in the entire state, the Washburn Tunnel east of downtown Houston.

The toll-free tunnel goes under the Houston Ship Channel, connecting the communities of Galena Park and Pasadena (the refinery town made famous in the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy”.) Officials say during the week it carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day.

Built in 1950 at a cost of $7 million, the Washburn Tunnel is just under 3800 feet long, taking drivers 68 feet below the ship channel. Atop the tunnel’s entrance there’s a large midcentury structure containing high-speed blower fans that provide ventilation. Because of its unique trench design, the Washburn Tunnel was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Also in 2008, all large vehicles were banned from the tunnel including 18-wheelers. But in September 2010, that didn’t stop a big rig driver from trying to enter. Gail Miller is with Harris County Precinct 2, the governmental entity that operates the tunnel, and she tells what happened next.

“We had an 18-wheeler, about 3:30 in the morning, drive by the guard shack. The guard was out, the flags were out, he drove right around then and headed into the tunnel. Well, he’s too big to get into the tunnel, and he hit the north portal wall, damaging the brick and the metal behind it.”

Once inside the tunnel, Miller says the truck collapsed and it took about seven hours to remove the wreckage. The driver wound up going to jail. Now two years later, crews are at work repairing the damage.

Miller says at the time of the accident, the damage wasn’t considered severe enough to close the tunnel to traffic. As for why it’s taken so long to do the repairs, Miller says they had to settle insurance claims, and because of the tunnel’s historic status, they had to find the proper materials to make the repairs to the tunnel’s entrance.

“Any changes to a historic building have to be run by the Texas Historical Commission, and they have to be matched in terms of brickwork.”

The tunnel will be closed to traffic on weekends through April 2 to make those repairs. So what does that mean for drivers? Traffic will be funneled onto several other ship channel crossings, including the East I-610 Loop, the Sam Houston Parkway toll bridge and the State Highway 146 Fred Hartman Bridge (which replaced another tunnel, the Baytown Tunnel, in 1995). Drivers also have the option of using the Lynchburg Ferry, which will have expanded hours during the Washburn Tunnel’s closure.

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source: Transportation Nation (Delaughter, 3/20)



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Celebs Help Texas Kids Orphaned in Car Crash

The plight of three Houston children who were orphaned and seriously injured as a result of a deadly car accident earlier this month prompted various celebrities — including Justin Bieber, Ellen DeGeneres, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga — on Wednesday to encourage their fans to donate to a new campaign that is raising money for their care.

Bieber and other celebrities asked their fans via Twitter and Facebook to donate to the "Show Your Hearts" campaign. The money being raised from the campaign launched Wednesday will go to a trust fund that has been set up for the children's care.

"It is a really sad story, but this is an opportunity for me and my friends to do something good for others," Bieber said in a statement. "We can use our influence to do good. We are just doing our part and I hope those kids get something positive out of it."

In its first day, the campaign raised more than $30,000. A Facebook page that had previously been created to highlight the trust fund and publicize fundraising efforts, including bake sales and lemonade stands, that have taken place in the Houston area and around the U.S. has helped raise more than $200,000.

The July 2 accident in West Texas killed the children's parents, Joshua and Robin Berry. Their sons, 8-year-old Aaron and 9-year-old Peter, were permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Their 6-year-old sister Willa suffered several broken bones. The family had been driving back to Houston from a vacation in Colorado when another vehicle crashed into their minivan.

Willa is now at home but her brothers remain hospitalized. After being treated at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, the brothers are now at Shriner's Hospital for Children in Chicago where they are undergoing physical rehabilitation treatment.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian on Wednesday tweeted, "The family needs our help!! Such a tragic story!"

DeGeneres, on her television show's home page, asked fans to "join me in raising awareness and sending love and support to this family."

"We are also so grateful for the amazing efforts from Justin Bieber and his team to pull together the long list of celebrities supporting the kids," said Matt Berry, the children's uncle.

The Houston Rockets on Wednesday also announced a campaign, "10,000 Hugs-to-Help," to raise money that will be donated to the children's trust fund. The campaign will let Houstonians donate money in exchange for a hug from the team's mascot, Clutch.

"We are committed to assisting the various fundraising efforts that continue to be planned around our community in order to help provide Peter, Aaron and Willa with the support they will need in order to overcome the physical pain and devastating emotional trauma they have suffered," said Rockets owner Leslie Alexander.


source: ABC News (Lozano, 7/28)

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