ABSTRACT
This chapter, using the defi nition of distraction provided in Chapters 1 and 3 of this book, discusses the results of several crash studies that have attempted to provide detailed categories of different types of distractions and quantify the proportion of crashes that involve driver distraction as a contributory factor.1,2 The majority of the studies examined use traditional approaches to information capture, such as use of
police crash reports or the outputs of crash investigation teams. The limitations of traditional information capture methods are discussed and contrasted with the fi ndings of one study that uses an observational method involving instrumented vehicles to collect crash and incident information. The chapter provides an estimate of the role of distraction as a contributing factor in crashes, and the relative contribution to crashes of distractions deriving from inside and outside the vehicle. The chapter concludes with a discussion of some issues regarding the role of technology as a potential source of distraction, the classifi cation of distraction, and improved crash reporting.
