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Distracted Driving

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Approximately 25% of all car crashes are resulted in distracted driving. According to the Department of Motor Vehicle, 9 people are killed every day in the United States because of distracted driving. In fact, texting and driving is more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.

For the most part, people think they are pretty good at multi-tasking. However, scientific studies show that around 2% of the world population can effectively multi-task. So, for all of us who are not so capable, practicing won’t make us better at it. In reality, multi-tasking is pretty much a superpower.

Funny thing is, when it comes to driving, we think we can safely drive a vehicle while doing multiple other tasks. Texting or using a smartphone are not the only distractions we may have. Eating a juicy hamburger, applying make-up or even adjusting climate controls are all simple distractions that could be avoided.

There are three types of distractions while driving: Visual, Manual and Cognitive. Visual distractions are when your eyes are off the road, manual distraction is reaching for something or physically handling an object such as a cell phone, and cognitive distraction is when your mind has wandered and is not on the task of driving.

That being said, texting or using a mobile phone uses all three types of distractions. Even hands-free phone calls are not totally safe either, any time you glance away from the road you are being distracted. It only takes about 3 seconds after a driver’s attention is diverted for a crash to occur.

So, what can we do to prevent distracted driving? First accept the fact that we probably aren’t part of the 2% of capable multi-taskers living on this planet. Next, don’t EVER drive distracted. No exceptions whatsoever! And don’t except anything less from a driver when you are the passenger either. Phone calls and messages can wait, if they can’t, find a safe place to stop your vehicle to take care of them.

Another way to prevent distracted driving is to keep up with scheduled maintenance and necessary repairs so that your vehicle doesn’t become a distraction. We are here to help you with that, because we always have your safety in mind!

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