Distracted drivers are one of the biggest causes of car accidents on the road today. Basically, defined distracted driving occurs when a person engages in any activity that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving. Distracted driving comes in many forms, but most experts agree that there are three main categories.
There is “visual” distraction in which the driver takes his or her eyes off the road.
“Manual” distraction occurs when the driver takes their hands off the wheel.
“Cognitive” distraction comes about when the drivers mind is off what they are doing.
As humans, we are easily distracted, and so not only should we be aware of being in one of those states, we should also make a conscious effort to avoid those situations. Here are some common situations to avoid if we don’t want to be a distracted driver.
Texting while driving is extremely dangerous and should always be avoided. There are plenty of cases where cellphones recovered from vehicles after crashes show incomplete text messages. This can only mean that the individual was texting at the time of the crash. Nothing can be so important that it can’t wait until one is not driving to text about.
Like texting, talking on the phone while driving is also extremely dangerous. Studies have shown that even using hands free equipment to use the phone while driving does not make it any safer. To be safe, Just leave the phone calls for when you’re not driving.
Eating while driving is also one of the most dangerous things you can do while at the wheel. Some believe that eating while driving is even more dangerous than texting while driving. Stop if you get hungry.
There are many more causes of distracted driving but the main thing to remember is simply to think of driving as a single task that is not to be combined with other things.