Study: Drivers Impaired By Numerous Distractions
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cell phones and texting make regular headlines for distracting drivers, but they are hardly the only distractions behind the wheel.
As CBS 2's Kris Habermehl reports, a 2010 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration study found 11 percent of fatal traffic accidents in 2009 were caused by distracted drivers, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The distractions implicated in the study included adjusting the radio, gaping at an accident, and painting fingernails, the Tribune reported.
Painting fingernails was actually implicated in a fatal accident near Lake Zurich in 2009. Lora Hunt was convicted of reckless homicide and served 18 months in jail for the crash that killed Anita Zeffke.
Zaffke was stopped at a red light when Hunt's car slammed into the back of her motorcycle. Authorities said Hunt was distracted because she was painting her nails.
Back in 2008, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White led a task force that recommended allowing police to issue negligent driving tickets for such offenses as eating or drinking, reading, and personal grooming, the Tribune reported. But the state has never passed such a law, although Plainfield and Highland Park have done so, the newspaper reported.
