At this point it is common knowledge that distracted driving caused by cellphone use is very dangerous. However, most people think of distracted driving as involving texting behind the wheel or being clearly distracted with one hand off the wheel holding the phone to one’s ear. This is not necessarily the only way that using a phone can be dangerous in the car. In fact, many studies have shown that using hands-free devices like headsets, speakerphone, or Bluetooth audio systems are also very distracting for drivers. A recent poll found that 70 percent of drivers who use hands-free devices say that they use these devices in [...]

Researchers looking at car crash statistics from six states around the country have determined that the rate of deadly car crashes involving drivers with marijuana in their systems has tripled over the past ten years. During the same period of time, the ratio of alcohol-related fatal car crashed stayed about the same (around 40 percent). Drugged driving in general accounted for 28 percent of fatal crashes in 2010, the most recent year of statistics that were examined. That proportion represents a 12 percent increase from 11 years ago. Among those fatal drugged driving accidents, marijuana was the main drug involved, contributing to 12 percent of crashes [...]

This week safety officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the first stages of an effort to bring vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems to new cars and trucks. These systems allow cars and trucks to communicate over radio frequencies, transmitting information about speed, traffic, and distance from other cars to provide alerts to drivers or trigger automatic breaks or steering maneuvers. This type of device is one element that experts say will be incorporated in self-driving cars in the future, but can be implemented earlier and more cheaply than a fully automated driving system. Early models will only be capable of providing alerts, but analysts say [...]