Healthy Living
What is distracted driving? Anything that takes your attention away from the task of driving safely is distracted driving. You cannot drive safely unless driving has your full attention. Any non-driving activity you engage in has the potential of being a distraction and increases your risk of crashing.
Texting and Driving. Cell phones are a great invention that makes it easy to stay connected. However, we need to stay disconnected while driving. The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. One out of every four car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving. Answering a text while driving takes your attention away from the road for about five seconds. If you are traveling at 55 miles per hour, that’s enough time to travel the length of a football field! Don’t let a text be the last thing you do. Put away your cell phone while driving. Your life is worth it.
Passengers as Distractions. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, passengers are one of the most reported causes of distractions. With young children being four times as distracting as adults and infants being eight times more distracting, you need to train yourself to be considerate of everyone’s safety. As a driver, if you are experiencing a distraction, safely pull over to address the distraction. Do not attempt to deal with it while the car is in motion.
Other Distractions. Eating, reading, watching a video, or even adjusting the radio can all be very dangerous distractions while driving. When we drive, we should focus all our attention on the task at hand. When we divide our attention, we put everyone’s life in danger. Imagine having to live with the thought of harming someone else because you chose to drive distracted.
We can all do our part in the fight to save lives by ending distracted driving. For more tips from Compact, visit www.compact2020.com or Facebook @Compact2020. †
