Distracted driving defies global enforcement efforts

Distracted driving, responsible for thousands of deaths annually worldwide, might not disappear unless every vehicle on the road is fully autonomous.

Simply put, it is very difficult to strictly enforce anti-texting laws or to prevent other types of distracted driving.

In the meantime, the onus is on automakers and technology companies to come up with ways to reduce distractions, even as governments in the U.S. and worldwide increasingly ban texting and handheld use, safety experts say.

Distracted driving is something of a public health crisis in the U.S. Traffic fatalities nationwide rose 7.2 percent in 2015 to 35,092. A 2016 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that about 10 percent of those deaths were the result of a distracted driver.

In the U.S., 46 states and the District of Columbia ban texting for all drivers. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia ban handheld device use, but none bars the use of hands-free devices. (See map, below.)

Similar laws exist worldwide, said IHS Markit automotive analyst Mark Boyadjis.

"What I have seen is when you look at the problem globally, there's no real difference between one country's solution to the problem or how much they are impacted by it," he said. "What's interesting is that the model that we see here in the U.S. is very similar to models seen elsewhere in the world."

Any major differences tend to be in terms of punishment. For instance, a 2014 Irish law provides for a maximum fine of 2,000 euros (about $2,120 at current exchange rates) and up to three months in jail for a driver's second texting-and-driving offense.

Other nations, such as Sweden, take a softer approach, Boyadjis said. He said the emphasis in Sweden tends to be on "raising public awareness."

But the effectiveness of distracted-driving laws comes down to how well they are enforced, and it can be difficult to catch drivers using a handheld, let alone prove they were texting.

Take North Carolina, for instance. Sgt. Michael Baker, public information officer for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, said troopers are trained to look for telltale signs of distracted driving, such as the driver frequently looking down or swerving between lanes.

A state trooper can then pull the driver over. But only texting and driving is banned for all drivers in North Carolina, so unless the trooper can prove the driver was indeed texting, and not, say, checking social media, the distracted driving law cannot be enforced.

"If it's a two-lane roadway, it's kind of hard for troopers to see everything going on inside of a vehicle," Baker said. "There are many kinds of distractions."

Because enforcement is so difficult, drivers often feel they can get away with distracted driving, said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council.

"You can have laws and regulations on the books, but you can look at speeding as an example of this," she said. "We often see people violating speeding on the roadways. Part of it is that there's going to be no enforcement or any accountability."

Even as more laws have been passed, distracted driving has continued to rise.

According to a 2016 report by NHTSA, 4.9 percent of drivers between ages 16 and 24 in 2015 were observed "visibly manipulating" handhelds, up from just 0.4 percent in 2006. Likewise, the number of adults ages 25 to 69 caught in the act also rose, to 2.1 percent from 0.5 percent, in that time.

Part of the problem might be drivers underestimating the risks of distracted driving. According to a 2016 poll by the National Safety Council, 67 percent of Americans felt "at risk" because of another's technology use while driving, but only 25 percent said their own distractions put themselves or others at risk.

Hersman said automakers and tech companies have focused on convenience for far too long, ignoring safety concerns related to distracted driving.

"The pendulum has really swung to the side of convenience," Hersman said. "You can do everything you can do at your desk behind the wheel."

Over time, drivers have become more comfortable doing increasingly risky tasks behind the wheel.

"Normalization creeps in slowly over time," Hersman said. "Nobody's really saying we shouldn't do this anymore."

It is unclear what actions beyond public awareness campaigns government and law enforcement can take to curb distracted driving in the U.S., Boyadjis said. In theory, states could assign more police officers to patrol roadways or put more cameras along roads to catch drivers in the act.

"But in the U.S. that kind of stuff doesn't pass muster against the litigious society we live in," Boyadjis said.

Hersman said employers are increasingly implementing policies that discourage employees from driving while distracted while using company fleet vehicles or company phones.

Some companies have "technology in fleet vehicles that monitors drivers," she said. "Some company-issued phones may be swept to ban certain apps like Pokemon Go. There's a lot more authority that a company has on this issue if you're on company time."

The auto industry -- and those who regulate it -- have been eyeing ways to curb distracted driving for years. In November, for instance, NHTSA unveiled a host of safety guidelines aimed at app developers such as Google and Apple that urge them to build their devices to be easily implemented into vehicles' interfaces. 

"We believe it's important to encourage drivers to use in-vehicle systems rather than hand-held personal electronic devices that were not engineered for use in the driving environment," Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers spokesman Wade Newton told Automotive News when the guidelines were released.

Boyadjis said it is important for automakers and tech companies to "integrate the mobile phone into the system so that you can use that phone or device as a fairly full-featured offering without it being distracting." 

Hersman said automakers and tech companies should move quickly to develop and implement technologies sophisticated enough to recognize whether someone is driving, and if so, to restrict mobile-device use.

"Technology got us into this situation," she said. "I think it has the potential to get us out of it." 

The 2016 National Safety Council survey found that drivers might be receptive to technology that restricts use while driving. About 24 percent of American drivers said making it impossible to use nonautomotive technology in a vehicle would make their experience better, and another 72 percent said it would be "about the same." Only 5 percent said it would make the driving experience worse. 

"People are starting to recognize that it's a problem," Hersman said. "They probably have had some close calls, though it probably isn't until something major happens that they change their ways." 

In the long run, fully autonomous vehicles could make distracted driving a thing of the past. 

But Hersman cautions that semiautonomous features could lull drivers into a sense of complacency in the meantime, making it imperative for automakers to properly educate consumers about those technologies. 

"Autonomous vehicle technology holds tremendous promise. It's just really easy to see how technology could help us drive those fatalities down to zero," she said. "But when it comes to the in-between time, before every vehicle is automated, it's going to be even messier." 

Boyadjis said the public should not bank on autonomy saving motorists from distracted-driving incidents in the near term. 

"The issue of distracted driving does not go away any time soon because autonomous cars won't be going on the roadways any time soon," he said. "I think the onus is ultimately on the driver." 

Hersman said she finds hope for curbing distracted driving from looking at the history of efforts against drunken driving. Those laws, which include strict enforcement and steep penalties, helped to greatly reduce the number of people killed on the roadways by inebriated drivers through greater law enforcement, public awareness and technological advances. 

Hersman said, "We've got to shift our thinking as a society."