Gov. Tony Evers | Facebook
Gov. Tony Evers | Facebook
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) is promoting a driving safety program designed to get people to wear seatbelts in their cars and to put down cellular phones, a major cause of distractive traffic crashes.
In 2019 according to state figures 3,142 people were killed in traffic collisions and 13% of these were using cell phones at the time of the accident.
Titled “Buckle Up Phone Down,” the program is sponsored by the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation (DOT).
“I took DOT’s Buckle Up Phone Down pledge,” Evers said in a tweet. “Now I’m challenging my cabinet to do the same. Let’s show folks our commitment to making our roads safer. Every trip, every time, Buckle Up Phone Down.”
A report by the Insurance Information Institute called driver-distracted driving a major health hazard including using a cell phone while driving, texting, eating, talking with passengers or adjusting the controls on a dashboard.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said there are three major types of distractions, visual or taking your eyes off the road, manual or taking your hands off the steering wheel or cognitive, taking your mind off your driving (daydreaming).
Use of a cell phone, texting or being distracted by another person or outside event were listed as the most likely causes of crashes, the NHTSA information said.
“Distraction-affected fatal crashes account for 9% of all fatal crashes in the nation,” the Insurance Institute website stated.
A Wisconsin DOT program website called Zero in Wisconsin Together We Can Save Lives said distracted driving is also caused by driver inattention and overconfidence. Too many drivers take the attitude they are indestructible behind the wheel and nothing bad can happen to them, the website said.
“Distractions abound,” the website warned, “including using cell phones, eating food, listening to loud music, horseplay, applying makeup, shaving and rummaging around for items."
The website added that one in five crashes in Wisconsin involve distracted driving and a crash happens somewhere in the state every 22 minutes.
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