Oprah Winfrey is a powerhouse media figure whose influence is felt far beyond her TV talk show. When she lends her name to a cause, a candidate or a new book, people sit up and take notice.

Her latest effort is to raise public awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. Earlier this year, Winfrey launched a campaign to persuade drivers to pledge to stop focusing on their cellphones and refocus on the roads and safety.

“No one needs to die today, be paralyzed or maimed today because you were distracted by your phone while driving,” Winfrey said. “So if you have to use your phone while driving, please pull over to a safe place.”  

Over 140,000 people have taken pledges not to use their cellphones for text messages or calls while driving.

Look at what you don’t see

In a January installment of her talk show, Winfrey discussed distracted driving with University of Utah researcher David Strayer, who has been studying distracted driving for a decade.

Strayer says people overestimate their ability to multitask while driving. What they’re really doing while talking on their phones is shifting their focus from the whole driving environment to a narrow strip directly ahead in their field of vision. Unfortunately, that narrowed view doesn’t include many dangers to ourselves and others, including pedestrians, bicyclists, vehicles coming at us from our sides and other people and objects.

"One of the things we know when people are talking on a phone is that they get in kind of a tunnel vision," he said. 

The research is clear: distractions are dangerous

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research findings are unambiguous: nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes caused by a distracted driver. More than half a million people were injured in those crashes.

A study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that texting drivers have their eyes off of the road for 4.6 seconds out of every six seconds. In that time while the driver’s eyes are on the phone, a vehicle going 55 mph travels the length of a football field.

A Virginia Transportation Institute study found that drivers who text are 23 times more likely to crash than drivers who are focused on the road.

How distracted driving affects you

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car crash or other motor vehicle wreck due to a distracted driver, contact a personal injury attorney who can evaluate your case and explain your legal options.