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Table 3. Percentage of CDS Crashes Involving Inattention - Distraction <br />Related Crash Causes <br />Data Element <br />%of <br />Drivers <br />%of <br />Crashes <br />Attentive or not distracted <br />46.6% <br />28.4% <br />Looked but did not see <br />5.6% <br />9.7% <br />Distracted by other occupant (specified] <br />0.9% <br />1.6% <br />Distracted by moving object in vehicle (specified] <br />0.3 % <br />0.5 % <br />Distracted while dialing, talking, or listening to cellular <br />phone (location and type of phone specified] <br />0.1%0 <br />0.1%a <br />Distracted while adjusting climate controls <br />0.2 %a <br />0.3 %a <br />Distracted while adjusting radio, cassette, CD [specified] <br />1.2% <br />2.1 % <br />Distracted while using other device /object in vehicle <br />[specified] <br />0.1 % <br />0.2% <br />Sleepy or fell asleep <br />1.S% <br />2.6% <br />Distracted by outside person, object, or event (specified] <br />2.0% <br />3.2% <br />Eating or drinking <br />0.1% <br />0.2% <br />Smoking - related <br />0.1% <br />0.2% <br />Distracted/inattentive, details unknown <br />1.5% <br />2.6% <br />Other distraction [specified] <br />1.3% <br />2.2% <br />Unknown/No Driver <br />38.5% <br />46.0% <br />Werghud dnver N = 4,627,000 (7,943, unweighted); weighted crash N = 2,619,000 (4,536); <br />In order for a crash to classified "attentive, all involved drivers had to be classified 'attentive." <br />19 • estimate based on 5 -9 cases. <br />University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center <br />The Role of Driver Distraction in Traffic Crashes (Stutts et al., 2001)19 <br />A study prepared by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center <br />for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety examined the sources of driver distraction in <br />traffic crashes. The data came from the CDS from 1995 -1999. Of the thirteen specific <br />sources of distraction tracked by the study, the greatest source of distraction was an <br />outside person, object or event. While the study does not break down the sources of <br />outside distraction, it does show that distractions outside the vehicle are the largest factor <br />in distraction - related crashes. The results of this study are presented in Table 4. <br />Table 4. Specific Sources of Distraction Among Drivers in Distraction- Related Crashes <br />Specific Distraction Percentage of <br />Drivers <br />Outside person, object or event 29.4 <br />Adjusting radio, cassette, CD 11.4 <br />Other occupant in vehicle 10.9 <br />Moving object in vehicle 4.3 <br />Other device /object brought into vehicle 2.9 <br />Adjusting vehicle /climate controls 2.8 <br />Eating or drinking 1.7 <br />Using /dialing cell phone 1.5 <br />Smoking related 0.9 <br />Other distraction 25.6 <br />Unknown distraction 8.6 <br />Total 100.0 <br />A15 <br />