By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

South Portland Police Officer Rocco Navarro was on a routine call when, in a split second, his life changed forever.

On Nov. 1, 2010, he pulled his cruiser behind a disabled car on Casco Bay Bridge. With lights flashing, he stepped from his car to let the driver know he would stay there until a tow truck arrived. He climbed back into his cruiser to wait.

“A short time later I felt a big bang and my head snapped back,” he said. 

Afraid the car would explode, Navarro kicked open his door and rolled out onto the bridge. He remembers nothing else about the accident and has spent the last few months trying to get back to work. Most frustrating, he said, is knowing the accident was caused by a driver sending a text message.

“I nearly lost my life because of a text message,” he said. 

Navarro, who is still on light desk duty, spoke about his experience recently at the Maine Distracted Driving Summit in Portland. The summit, hosted by Sen. Bill Diamond (D-Windham) and sponsored by AAA Northern New England, brought together national experts on distracted driving to talk about issues that drivers face. 

About 160 people attended the summit, including driving instructors and teen drivers.

Diamond, who two years ago sponsored Maine’s distracted driving law, announced he will introduce a bill to ban texting while driving. Maine is the only New England state without the law. Thirty states across the country prohibit texting while driving and some states are expected to consider similar laws.

Diamond said the distracted driving law “is doing a lot of good things” but is not specific enough. He said it is important to specifically address texting while driving because so many people do it. Driving while texting is roughly equivalent to driving with a .13 blood alcohol content, he said. 

“We have to remember driving is a privilege, not a right. For the safety of all of us, we have to add as many safety restrictions as we can,” he said.

Diamond said many people already  support the ban and other legislators are eager to sign on as co-sponsors. 

“It’s hard to argue against it,” he said.

Tom Kinley, president and CEO of AAA Northern New England, said distracted driving is a serious issue that needs to be addressed with drivers of all ages. He said his own life was touched by the issue when his granddaughter was in a serious accident while distracted. Before crashing into a tree and totaling her car, his granddaughter had texted friends for 20 minutes.  

“When you ask her today how she could do that when she knew better, she says she couldn’t help herself,” he said. 

Kinley said he is concerned about a generation of young drivers who “text almost unconsciously.” 

“Somehow we have to figure out how to break that impulse,” he said. 

Ronald Medford, deputy administrator for the National Highway Safety Administration, said texting is dangerous for everyone, but studies show teens are more likely to text while behind the wheel. In 2009, distracted driving contributed to 16 percent of fatal crashes in the United States for people younger than 20, a rise of 6 percent from 2005, he said. 

“It’s good kids, it’s great kids, it’s all kinds of kids dying because they made bad choices,” he said. “Every one of these tragic losses is preventable.”

Medford said studies show drivers do change their behavior and put cell phones down when laws are enacted, but more public awareness is needed to stop distracted driving. He said distracted driving needs to become socially unacceptable in the same way that drunk driving and driving without a seatbelt has in recent years. 

John Ulczycki, group vice president of strategic initiatives for the National Safety Council, agreed that “significant cultural and behavioral changes” are needed to stop distracted driving. 

“This issue is not just a teenage issue, it’s all of us,” he said. “People think it’s perfectly normal and acceptable to talk on a cell phone while driving.” 

Ulczycki said more than 50 studies have shown “substantial negative risks” of talking on the phone while driving. Even drivers who use hands-free devices face cognitive distractions.

“It’s not where your hands are, it’s where your head is,” he said. “If you can’t watch TV and talk on a cell phone at the same time, why would you think you can drive a car and talk on a cell phone at the same time?” 

Ulczyzki said 80 percent of Americans admit to talking on a cell phone while driving, evidence more education is needed about the risks of distracted driving.

“This is indeed a cultural change we’re talking about,” he said. “We change our culture one person at a time.” 

Donald Fisher, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has undertaken a broad program to study distracted driving. He and his colleagues use simulators to study the effect distracted driving has in a variety of situations. 

Fisher said the real problem with texting and driving is the amount of time the driver’s eyes are off the road. About 80 percent of crashes are associated with glances away from the road for longer than 1.6 seconds, he said. 

“Newly licensed drivers are willing to glance away longer than experienced drivers,” he said. “So what is it about texting that’s so dangerous? Your eyes are off the road for an especially long period of time.”

Justin McNaull, director of state relations for AAA, said consequences must exceed benefits and distracted driving must become a social stigma. He said 80 to 90 percent of people support texting bans and 87 percent of people see texting as a serious threat to safety.

“You have to convince people it’s not worth doing,” he said. 

After a morning of speakers, Officer Navarro led a panel of teenagers in a discussion about distracted driving. The teens, from high schools across the state, said they all know people who text while driving. 

Hunter Blondin, a 17-year-old South Portland High School junior, said teens are not likely to put their cell phones completely out of reach while driving. He said spreading the word through Facebook about the dangers of distracted driving is the most effective way to address the issue.

“The quickest way to get the word around is to just tell people,” he said. 

Jorgi Anandi Young, a 17-year-old senior at Maine Central Institute, said telling people about risks is necessary, but that doesn’t change everyone’s habits.

“People still do it, so it’s more about peer pressure and making it socially unacceptable,” she said. “We don’t connect our cell phone vibrating to the thought we’re going to die.”

Nearly four months after he was rear-ended by driver sending a text message, Navarro said he is focused not only on making a full recovery, but helping to ensure Diamond’s bill becomes law. 

“On Nov. 1, 2010, my life was changed. What I enjoyed doing was taken from me,” he said. “I got hit really hard by something that should have been avoided.” 

Navarro said one of the most difficult aspects of the accident is the frustration that came with finding out his injuries were caused by a distracted driver. He said he takes peace in knowing his cruiser likely saved the life of the driver in the broken down car. 

“I think a lot of people will benefit from this law,” he said. “I’m striving to get people to put their phones down.”