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[simplestopwatch]About 80% of all wrecks are caused completely or in large part to distracted driving. Always have your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. A dangerous new habit has emerged: driving while engaging in social media. Put down the phone...that includes looking at GPS, and selecting music.
Because it is a common-even daily- activity for many people, sending a text doesn’t seem dangerous. However, when you are doing it behind the wheel, there are a litany of others factors at play. Driving is a privilege because of the inherent risk and responsibility we all need to assume out on the road.
When you choose to text and drive, you are threatening every single driver around you-and placing more value on the text message than yourself and your fellow drivers.
Basically, ‘distracted driving” is a catch-all phrase for anything that diverts a driver’s attention from safely operating the motor vehicle. Such distractions can include anything from eating and drinking to talking to other passengers.
It can be hard to grasp the dangers of texting and driving, but once you know the facts, this hazardous habit starts to become a reality.
In the United States, according to NHTSA estimates:
As you can see, texting while driving has very real consequences that will only get worse unless we work together to make these statistics a thing of the past.
Texting and driving is especially dangerous because it incorporates all types of driving distractions.
When you’re engulfed in a texting conversation, it is easy to forget you are sharing the road with other people. In just the 5 seconds it takes to read a short text message, you have already zoomed past the length of a football field (traveling 55 MPH) with minimal attention on the road ahead.
Would you want a family member or friend to be on the road with someone so oblivious to the traffic around them? Remember, every time you get behind the wheel, you are entering a shared experience with mothers, fathers, friends, and children.
It is every driver’s responsibility to always be careful and attentive, ensuring everyone can safely get from Point A to Point B.
With the rise of smart phones and social media, more and more people, especially Millennials-prefer to communicate via text. A majority of U.S. states have passed laws to keep up with the corresponding increase in texting and driving.
The penalties for texting while driving could include any of the following:
Is sending that text worth the financial burden? Is it worth risking your freedom? More so, is it worth the emotional damage a car accident causes to everyone involved?
The consequences you will face for texting and driving are similar to those you would get for another one of the most serious driving offenses: DUI. If you would never drive drunk, then you should NEVER text and drive-driving with a BAC of just 0.01% increases your chances of causing a car crash by 46% according to a recent survey.
If you are the parent of a teen driver, consider installing an app designed to fight distracted driving on your child’s smartphone. Teens make up the largest portion of people involved in distracted driving accidents-certain apps can help to combat this by:
Finally, if you are in the car with someone who is texting and driving, don’t hesitate to tell them to stop. Give them the facts-they’re putting your life in danger, not to mention the lives of everyone else on the road just for the chance to send a text message. There’s no shame to making the road a safer and distraction-free environment.
Teenagers comprise a higher-risk group of distracted drivers for a number of reasons, not least of which being that they are typically much newer drivers in general.
Aside from their inexperience, which in itself may lead to more anxiety and less focus on the road, teens are typically:
Coupled with cognitive, manual and visual distractions, these behaviors lead to many accidents-and , unfortunately, deaths. In fact, in many studies, teens are shown to suffer the highest fatality rate caused by distracted driving.
Several good distracted driving apps are available for downloading.
LifeSaver uses GPS monitoring and rewards system to help drivers break dangerous distracted driving habits. The app blocks the ability to use your phone while driving, and automatically lets loved ones know once you have safely arrived at your destination.
Available for both iOS and Android, AT&T DriveMode app helps keep drivers from distraction by blocking any phone taking or texting and driving. It can be set up to automatically start when you are driving over 15 MPH. You can even have it notify you when your teen driver has the app deactivated, or if certain setting is changed.
By its very nature, driving demands an extremely high percentage of your attention (if not all of it). Yet, as you get more experienced and comfortable with driving, you might find yourself more willing to spread your attention across numerous distractions.
Still, no matter how experienced you are, the more you become distracted while driving, the more your risk of getting into a car accident exponentially grows.
Practice Driving Safety
Discipline yourself to follow the rules of the road, as well as keep up with changing traffic laws.
For example, smartphone and texting didn’t always exist, and it took a while for states to implement laws regarding using your phone for any purpose while driving. States created these laws for a reason; they saw the dangers that cell phones presented to drivers.
Source: dmv.org
Use the quiz below to test yourself on the material you have learned!
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3. D
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5. B