Distractions: The Nemesis of Driving

You’re driving home from the store and expecting an important text message from one of your close friends. After a few minutes your phone finally vibrates – are you going to take the risk to check your phone on the road? According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, when you send or check a text message, your eyes are taken away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. If you’re driving 55 mph then this is the equivalent or driving the length of an entire football field, blind.

There are three different types of distractions while you’re driving:

• Visual is when your eyes are off the road
• Manual is when your hands are off the steering wheel
• Cognitive is when your mind is off the road

Text messaging while you’re driving is one of the MOST dangerous things to do on the road because it takes away attention from all of these. When you’re texting and driving the chances of a car accident are 23 times worse than driving without distractions.

Although texting is the most detrimental of all distraction, small things such as eating food, applying makeup, or even using a navigation system can distract you as well. In 2010 the number of people killed in crashes that involved a distracted driver was 3,092. There are so many simple things that you can practice while driving, that could one day save your life. If you get a phone call or a text message pull over to the side of the road to check or wait until you reach your destination. Try to eat and groom before you reach your car.

The safety of you and your passengers are dependent solely on your attention.

For more information about distractions while your driving check out: http://www.distraction.gov/index.html