(April 19, 2011) SAN DIEGO (PRNewswire) — Underscoring the importance of April's National Distracted Driving Awareness campaign, SmartDrive Systems, a leader in fleet safety and operational efficiency, today released the 2010 SmartDrive Distracted Driving Index, a revealing look at commercial fleet distracted driving rates during the past year.

Among several significant findings, the 2010 SDDI report shows that the top 5% of drivers with the most driving distractions were distracted 67% of the time during which a risky driving maneuver was observed. That's nearly six times more often than the rest of the drivers.

The SmartDrive Distracted Driving Index summarizes the 2010 performance of commercial drivers observed during a benchmark period prior to starting the SmartDrive Safety program. 

This study provides fleet safety professionals with an ongoing measurement of causes and trends in distracted driving behaviors to help them put safer drivers on the road. SDDI data is compiled using in-vehicle recorders that capture video, audio and vehicle data during sudden stops, swerves, collisions and other risky driving maneuvers.  Events are categorized and scored according to 50+ safety observations.

The study evaluated more than 13.8 million video events recorded over the course of 2010, involving 34,466 commercial drivers. Through in-depth review by SmartDrive Expert Safety Analysts, SmartDrive is able to quantify distractions such as cell phone usage, text messaging, use of maps or navigation, doing paperwork, and other actions.  The percentages reflect how often a distraction was observed when a risky driving maneuver was recorded.

    • Overall 2010 distraction rate was 9.7% of the time risky driving maneuvers were observed.
    • The nine most common distractions observed in conjunction with a risky driving maneuver were:

Two distractions in particular are particularly risky and more common among a small percentage the benchmark drivers — using a handheld mobile phone and operating a handheld device.  In both instances just 5% of the drivers accounted for the majority of events involving those devices — 57% of all mobile phone incidents captured and 52% of all operating-handheld-device incidents.

"Throughout 2010 we continued to see a strong connection between these driving distractions and fundamental driving errors that can lead to collisions.  Early identification of this 5% group is extremely important, because the sooner they know who they are, the sooner fleets begin training to change risky-driving behaviors in this higher-risk group," Palmer said.

As an indication that training and focused coaching has a positive impact, the overall distracted driving rate across longer-term drivers in the SmartDrive Safety program in the 2010 SDDI was just 6.2%, 36.1% lower than the rate for the benchmark drivers.

Editor's Note: SmartDrive has compiled the world's largest storehouse — more than 34 million events —– of real-time, risky driving incidents. SmartDrive Systems is based in San Diego, Calif., and employs approximately 300 people worldwide.