Federal study followed 241 drivers of 100 vehicles for 1 year to observe driving behavior

Conducted by researchers w/ NHTSA, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Study showed 80% of crashes caused by distractions, sleepiness

Reading, putting on makeup, reaching for moving object tied to increase chance of crash

Dialing, answering cell phone increased rate of crash, near-miss 2.8 times

Likelihood of distraction 4 times higher for drivers age 18-20 than for those over 35

100 vehicles wired w/ cameras, sensors tracked 109 primary drivers, 241 total drivers

Observed driver behavior for 12-13 months, over 2M miles, in VA, Washington, DC area

Caught 82 crashes, 761 near-crashes, 8295 critical incidents

78% of accidents, 65% of near-crashes involved driver inattention in 3 seconds before incident

Drowsiness played much greater role in accidents than previously believed

Automakers using data to develop precrash sensors to warn of impending accidents

"To the everyday driver, we'd like to say that, anytime you're engaging in something else while driving, that really does increase your crash risk by two to three times." -- Charlie Klauer, project manager, 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

"The prevalence of drowsiness during daylight hours was much higher than I think anyone thought it was." -- Tom Dingus, director, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

"Anything and everything drivers could do, they did during the study. This is a wake-up call to America to pay attention while driving." -- Jacqueline Glassman, acting administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

"We're spending a lot more time in our cars commuting, and we're doing a lot more in cars, especially with new technologies. We do a lot of things and we don't get caught. But in fact we're just lucky and we get complacent." -- Klauer