GREENFIELD — Distracted driving is a risk to everyone on the roads in Franklin County, according to a new report by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
Laurie Scarbrough, FRCOG transportation planning engineer, said the study was done between 2014 and 2016, and the FRCOG will continue to study the issue until it finds some solutions.
During those three years, 3,347 crashes were reported in the 26 towns of Franklin County, and of those, 349, or 10 percent, involved at least one distracted driver. In 2014, 96 of the 349 were reported as a distracted driver, while there were 107 in 2015 and 146 in 2016.
“People need to stay alert at all times when they’re on the road,” Scarbrough said. “They have to take responsibility for themselves, as well as others — everyone — on the road.”
According to the FRCOG, there are several types of distractions: external, electronic device, passenger, talking on a hand-held device, searching, eating, personal hygiene and more and “other.”
The most common distraction reported during the three-year period was searching, eating and personal hygiene — the reason for 44 percent of all of the crashes reported in the county during that time. External distraction was reported as the cause of 22 percent of them, while electronic devices were the cause of 17 percent.
The FRCOG used data from the state, which is reported by local and state police.
Scarbrough said the FRCOG report reveals the severity of crashes involving distracted driving is higher than the severity of crashes where there is no distraction.
Only one crash involving a distracted driver during that time resulted in a fatality — a singe-vehicle crash into a tree outside the roadway — but Scarbrough said that’s one too many.
“We assume that distracted driving accounts for even more of the crashes, but that’s what’s reported, so we can only assume at this point,” she said.
Scarbrough said sometimes police are suspicious of what a driver reports, but if they can’t prove it, they have to use the information the driver gives them, like the sun in their eyes or an animal crossing the road.
The report reveals that in distracted driving crashes, rear-end crashes were almost as frequent as single-vehicle crashes. In the three years, 136 were single-vehicle crashes and 126 were rear-end crashes. There were seven head-on crashes.
“Distracted driving crashes are more likely to result in injury than other kinds of crashes,” Scarbrough said. “This may be because distracted drivers don’t realize they are about to get into an accident, so they don’t take evasive actions to avoid them. They probably hit at a higher speed because there’s no hard braking or swerving.”
Scarbrough said the FRCOG used the Vision Zero concept to see what it looks like in Franklin County. Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a highway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic.
“As we keep studying, we’ll hopefully come up with some solutions,” she said. “We have to get a handle on this before we take action.”
The towns of Deerfield, Northfield and Orange experienced a higher percentage of distracted driving crashes from 2014 to 2016, which the report states could be due to differences in local police reporting or other factors. Thirty-two percent of the 1,243 crashes in Greenfield during that period were because of distracted drivers. Deerfield had 53, Northfield had 31, Montague had 39 and Orange had 37.
Conway, Heath, Leyden, Monroe, Rowe and Wendell reported no distracted driver crashes during that time, and Buckland, Gill, Hawley, Shutesbury and Warwick only had one. Ashfield and Charlemont reported two and New Salem and Colrain reported three. All other towns had between four and 17 reported distracted-driver crashes.
About 100 of the crashes in Franklin County happened on major roadways, including Route 2, Interstate 91, Route 10, Route 116, Route 5, including Routes 5 and 10, Route 63 and route 202. The rest happened on other roadways.
The majority of the crashes (60 percent) did not happen at intersections, though distracted drivers are less likely to perceive another vehicle at an intersection in time to avoid a crash, the report states.
The report revealed there tended to be more distracted-driver crashes in September of the three years, traditionally the back-to-school period. Those who studied the data said that might have been because of adjustments to new routines, new schedules and new travel routes, as well as not devoting enough attention to driving. Other types of crashes throughout the county tend to happen during winter months, when there is less daylight and the roads are slippery.
The highest number of distracted-driver crashes follow a similar pattern to all crashes: 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., with slightly lower numbers occurring from noon to 3 p.m., and the youngest distracted drivers who end up in crashes is similar to all crashes at between 21 and 24 years old (22 percent), while the oldest are 55 to 64 (19 percent).
Scarbrough said reports will be updated as the FRCOG collects data from the state and towns throughout the county.
She said the best thing drivers can do is put their cell phones in the back seat, where they’re not tempted to look at them. She said crashes can happen to anyone at any time, and it isn’t always their fault.
“You’re only in control of yourself and your vehicle, so just because you’re confident about your abilities doesn’t mean someone else is — you could get hit by them,” she said. “As drivers, we have to take responsibility for everyone on the road.”
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.