What do police reported crashes tell us about driver distraction in New Zealand

This paper summarises the results of an analysis of police reported crashes involving driver distraction contained in the New Zealand Crash Analysis System between 2002 and 2003. Approximately 2000 crash reports that included the attention diverted codes (350-360) associated with internal and external sources of driver distraction were reviewed in order to provide more detailed information on the type of behaviour, actions and/or objects involved. While internal distraction sources (such as cell-phones, food-drink and other objects inside the vehicle) will be discussed much of the focus of the paper will be on external distraction sources (such as scenery or people/traffic outside the vehicle). The results presented will outline the different kinds of objects/ behaviours that are reported to be involved in driver distraction related crashes, how they are related to other contributing causes (such as alcohol or speed) and the type of crash/movement types involved.