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One of the reasons the Kargaroo makes such a great travel item is that it can help minimize distractions in the car!!! With the Kargaroo, there would be no need to pass those toys back to your child and take your eyes off the road. This article gives great insight on the topic of distracted drivers.

Watch the road

Experts call distracted driving a major cause of accidents

By Mark Langlois
THE NEWS-TIMES

When drivers sit down behind the wheel and they're juggling their coffee, a raspberry-filled doughnut, and kids, accidents happen.

That's distracted driving, which national statistics say may be responsible for almost 80 percent of the nation's car crashes. Connecticut added a distracted driving law in 2005 to address the problem.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in its 2006 study any time a driver looks away from the road, that driver is distracted. The study said most accidents happen within three seconds of a driver being distracted.

The Connecticut state law says a police officer can give a driver a $100 ticket for distracted driving after they've been pulled over for another moving violation.

One example would be an officer who watches a driver run a stop sign while eating a burrito. The main offense was running the red light, which is a $124 ticket, but they get a second $100 ticket for distraction.

The law came into being in 2005 to address a wider range of distractions other than just talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device, said state Rep. David Scribner, R-Brookfield. Scribner said the main debate in the legislature at the time involved the cell phone law, but legislators also talked about other distractions.

"It gives law enforcement officers more leeway," Scribner said. "Drivers are drinking coffee or they're putting on mascara or they're fiddling with their stereo. Up until then, there wasn't really anything to do with the cause of the distraction."

Scribner said in the legislators' debates representatives stood up and described the problem in detail, including one tale about a driver who reached down to the car's floor mat to retrieve the red M&M he dropped while driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported up to 80 percent of all crashes involve some kind of driver distraction. The year-long study involved more than 2 million miles of driving by 241 drivers in 100 cars. Video cameras were used to keep an eye on the drivers while they drove.

"Almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes happen within three seconds of some form of driver distraction," the study said. That study reported in April that drinking a coffee, eating a sandwich, disciplining a child and paying attention to technology in the car all add to distractions.

One reason drivers are distracted is that fast food restaurants offer drive-up windows featuring to-go food designed to be eaten in the car.

"That's why there's a cup holder in the car," said Joe Adducci of Danbury, a corporate chef who works for a variety of corporate clients in Westchester County, Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties. "In the industry there's a movement toward smaller food. They're designing food people can eat quickly. It isn't a sandwich that has to be cut in half anymore. It's more like a sandwich in a dinner roll."

For examples, think about the burritos, tacos and other hand food at Taco Bell. Think about the egg, cheese and ham bagels at Dunkin Donuts, and the cheeseburgers, hamburgers and french fries at McDonald's. Even the apple pie is hand-held size, as are chicken nuggets.

Adducci said people have so little time that corporate cafeterias are bundling food so a customer can walk in, pick up one bundle, and inside they find a sandwich, water and chips. The bundle is designed to be neat and clean, not sloppy.

"Take a drive down 684 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. You'll see people putting on their makeup. I saw a guy shaving one day," Adducci said. "They're designing food you can eat quickly."

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California lists 14 items as the major cause of distraction, and eating and drinking make No. 5 on the list.

The No. 1 distraction was adjusting the radio, cassette or CD player. The second distraction was other occupants; third was objects moving in the vehicle, and that could be anything from bees to balls and children. The fourth is cell phones.

"From breakfast burritos to burgers and fries, eating on the run has turned into an everyday part of our lives," the laboratory report said.

The Connecticut State Police advise drivers to pull over before they get distracted. If the children require attention, then pull over and stop. Pets, food or maps, whatever it is, pull over.

Because the law is only a year old and because the people who might be charged with it are being stopped for a more serious offense, it isn't yet being used much, police officers said.

"When you're driving, you're supposed to be driving," said Major Jay Purcell of the Brookfield Police Department. "You're not supposed to be eating a sandwich."

Purcell said he has never given anyone a ticket, though, for distracted driving.

"I think people are leading such hectic lives. That's just what they do -- eat, talk, do makeup while they're driving," Purcell said.

In Bethel, police Captain Robert Cedergren said distractions are a problem for everyone in a car. He spoke to four officers and to Bethel Police Chief Jeffrey Finch, and no one recalled an accident caused by someone eating food while driving. The law isn't much enforced, Cedergren said, because it's tough to catch a person both in the act of distraction while breaking another motor vehicle law.

"Look at my officers. They've got mobile data terminals. They have AM, FM CD players. They have police radios. They have cell phones. They have all manner of distractions," Cedergren said.

Distractions are a part of life.

"Drinking coffee, looking in the mirror, I've done them all," said Maria Manolakes of Brookfield, a junior at Western Connecticut State University. "Eating while you're driving, that's a big one."

Allstate Insurance is running an advertisement about a driver who looks down at his coffee for a second, looks up and sees cars stopped in front of him. He slams on the brakes in slow motion while the narrator talks about distracted driving.

"That's the first thing that comes to mind when you mention distracted driving," Cedergren, the Bethel police captain, said. "I don't even remember the company that puts it out, but I remember the ad."

Nearly everyone has sipped a soda, water or coffee while driving a car.

"I'd be lying if I said I never did that," said Ben Teicher of Danbury, a senior at WestConn. "I'm not eating a sandwich. It's a candy bar or something small. I'm driving a stick shift, so my hands are busy."