Making an Impact
March 2022 - Volume 9 - Issue 6
Alexxyss' Story
Alexxyss Therwhanger, age 19, was killed in a car crash on February 19, 2016 while she was driving home in eastern Oregon. Alexxyss was using her cell phone and lost control of her car, colliding with an oncoming vehicle and severely injuring two other people. Alexxyss would have just turned 20 on May 28, 2016.
 
To make drivers aware of the serious consequences of distracted driving, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Oregon State Police have produced a distracted driving TV PSA. The PSA features Alexxyss' mother in an effort to persuade drivers to pay attention and to drive without distractions, especially cell phones.
Distracted Driving in Oregon
​Distraction occurs when a driver diverts attention to something not related to driving that uses the driver's eyes, ears, hands or mind.

There are four types of driver distraction:

  • Visual - looking at something other than the road
  • Auditory - hearing something not related to driving
  • Manual - handling something other than the steering wheel
  • Cognitive - thinking about something other than driving

Most distractions involve more than one of these types, both a sensory - eyes, ears or touch - and a mental component.

  • “Distracted Driving” is a dangerous behavior for drivers, passengers, and non-occupants alike. Distraction is a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity instead (per NHTSA).

  • From 2015-2019 There were 23,783 crashes resulting in 158 fatalities and 23,403 injuries caused by crashes involving a distracted driver in Oregon (all ages).

  • 2015-2019 There were 1,920 fatal and injury crashes involving a driver (all ages) reported to have been using a cell phone at the time of the crash: 20 fatalities and 1,880 people injured.

  • 2015-2019 There were 151 crashes involving a driver age 16-18 reported to have been using a cell phone at the time of the crash: 0 fatalities and 191 people injured.

  • 2015-2019 There were 64,083 convictions for this offense. 

Convictions for using a mobile electronic device 2015-2019

​2015 - 15,264
2016 - 10,317
2017 - 8,748
2018 - 13,086
2019 - 16,668

Total - 64,083

  • ​​2015-2019 There were 44 crashes involving, but not limited to a Pedestrian, using a cell phone: 4 fatalities and 40 injuries.​

  • ​2015-2019 There were 9 injuries involving, but not limited to a Pedal-cyclist, using a cell phone: 0 fatalities and 0 people injured.
Alcohol remains a major factor in deadly Portland crashes

If you drink, it is safest to avoid driving and to help others do the same.
An alleged DUII driver collided head-on with a person in another vehicle on NE Glisan Street near 152nd Avenue in December, 2021, resulting in serious injuries. Photo courtesy of the Portland Police Bureau.

(March 4, 2022) In Portland we are rightly proud of our local breweries, wineries, and distilleries.
But we should not be proud of continued serious crashes involving alcohol. At least 43 people died in 2020 and 2021 from crashes in which the Portland Police Bureau believe alcohol may have been a factor. This number will likely increase as crash data is finalized.

More than one-in-three Portland traffic deaths involved alcohol impairment from 2015 through 2019, the latest five-year period for which complete data is available (see chart and map). An additional 198 people suffered serious injuries, such as brain damage or paralysis, due to alcohol-involved crashes during the same period.
The proportion of deadly Portland crashes involving alcohol impairment is consistently high. (Final data for 2020 and 2021 is not yet available.) Data: Oregon Department of Transportation.

National data suggest the role of alcohol in crashes has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Greater proportions of serious and deadly crashes appear to involve alcohol impairment, including by people driving, on motorcycles, and pedestrians.

Already this year, a person has been charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants in a crash that killed 34-year-old Salvador Manuel Rodriguez-Lopez, who was driving on Interstate 5 when he collided head-on with an alleged DUII driver traveling the wrong direction on Tuesday, Jan. 4, around 11 p.m.

Other recent crashes include:


Drinking alcohol and then driving sharply increases the risk of killing or seriously injuring yourself or others. Odds of crashing double even below Oregon’s legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit of 0.08. (People below 0.08 can still face DUII charges if they fail field sobriety tests.)

People not hurt in a crash may still face license suspension, job loss, higher insurance costs, court fees, or jail time. Crash survivors may also face depression or other mental health issues.

While substances other than alcohol can also increase the risk of crashing, research indicates that alcohol has the biggest impact on deadly crash risk.
Click the image to view the interactive map. More than one-third of Portland traffic deaths involved alcohol impairment (shown as orange triangles) from 2015 through 2019. Final data is not yet available for 2020-21. Source: Oregon Department of Transportation

How many drinks are safe before driving?

It is best to avoid driving after drinking alcohol. Even one drink can make it harder for people to visually track moving targets and to perform two tasks at the same time, both of which are important for driving. By the time a person hits Oregon’s legal BAC limit they are three times more likely to crash compared to a sober person.

Translating a specific number of drinks into BAC levels is difficult. BAC for a given number of drinks depends on factors including height, weight, gender, a person’s liver function, and the strength of the drinks.

The effects of even low levels of alcohol on driving have led Utah and many countries to adopt BAC limits lower than 0.08. A recent study concludes that Utah’s 0.05 limit has likely reduced crashes while not resulting in any additional DUII arrests. Countries including Brazil have made it illegal to have any measurable alcohol in the blood of people driving (see map). The World Health Organization recommends legal limits no higher than 0.05 for the general population and no higher than 0.02 for “young and novice” drivers. In 2019, Oregon legislators considered but did not pass a bill to lower Oregon’s legal BAC limit to 0.05.
Countries meeting World Health Organization ”best practice” for drinking and driving (green color). Graphic courtesy World Health Organization.

How you can help

  • Avoid driving after drinking any amount of alcohol. Public transit, taxis, ridehailing services, and designated drivers are good alternatives to driving impaired.

  • If you are drinking with a group, help others travel in ways other than driving themselves. Intervening to prevent others from driving after drinking can be a powerful way to prevent serious crashes.

  • Overnight parking is allowed at most public SmartPark garages and on many Portland streets. A parking ticket is also much cheaper than a crash.


Thank you for helping Portland meet our Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Texting and driving is one of the most dangerous forms of distracted driving. At any given moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. Distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic on America’s roadways.

In 2018, there were 2,841 people killed and an estimated 400,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. Distracted driving is an especially problematic trend among younger drivers. In fact, 8% of drivers 15 to 19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted at the time of the fatal crashes.

Additional campaign materials are available, such as:

Use these free materials to raise awareness on the dangers of distracted driving. For more information, facts, and toolkits, please visit www.Distraction.gov
Note: No one may alter, edit, or change a NHTSA TV ad or video. However, a State may submit a request to NHTSA for NHTSA to “retag” the ad or video. “Retag” means to place the State logo in the NHTSA TV ad or video. Click here for more information.

Car Seat Check Up Events

We know that car seat safety is very important, as it should be, for many new parents. We want you to know are here to help.
 
We are currently making appointments for car seat education sessions, along with other local partners. Please contact us for more information at 503-899-2220 or via email at OregonCarSeatSafety@gmail.com.