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January Safety Newsletter (Sign up here to get upcoming newsletters - FREE!)
Driving While Distracted – Part I of II
Adult Drivers
We hear and read a lot these days about new laws and regulations aimed at curbing cell phone use in cars. Proponents of these restrictions say people should either not be allowed to use them or be required to use hands-free technology while driving in order to make the road safer for everyone.
Given all this attention, I was surprised to read recent reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and several others that say cell phone use is not even close to being the highest distraction-related crash factor.
The statistics, all self reported by people involved in accidents, say many of the factors that cause most distraction-related crashes have been around as long as we’ve been traveling on wheels.
Here are the surprisingly low-tech culprits in order:
Looking for something outside the car (23%), dealing with children or other passengers (19%), looking for something inside the car (14%), another driver (11%), personal thoughts (5%), an animal outside the car (3%), technology - primarily radio (2%) and other distractions like eating, drinking, smoking, grooming and cell phone use make up the last 23%.
Suprisingly, cell phone use caused just under 2% of the total distraction related accidents – about the same as eating and drinking.
Given the size of the problem – between 4,000 and 8,000 crashes a day resulting from inattention to driving – it’s wise to keep reminding ourselves and other drivers in the family of some steps to help us keep our minds on the road.
Before The Car Moves:
- Get good & precise directions including landmarks if possible.
- Adjust mirrors, seats, heat & air conditioning.
- Get CDs out and program the radio.
- Secure everything in the car so nothing shifts while the car is moving.
While The Car Is In Motion:
- Pay 100% attention to driving and remaining aware of what other drivers are doing
- Give yourself time to react. Don’t speed and keep a two second cushion between you and the car in front of you. More if the weather is bad.
- If you have to take or make a call – keep it short. Avoid stressful conversations in the car, both when you’re behind the wheel and if someone else is driving.
Pull Over!!
- To discipline or deal with children
- To eat anything but the easiest food to handle
- To freshen make up, gets things out of the back seat or off the floor
- If you start feeling extreme stress as a result of traffic. Take a short break to calm down.
Changes to car technology like video programming, the ability to surf the web and others may shift some of the blame in the future, but for now we can all concentrate more and avoid the old habits that take our attention off the road.
Coming up: Part II - Teen Distracted Driving (Is There A Difference?)
More resources:
Click the link to read or download a really great pamphlet we found: “Pay Attention” , from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
I also found a “Top 10 List” of craziest things people have admitted to doing while driving in this article by Nationwide Insurance. Very interesting!
Roadtrip America (whose motto I love - “Life’s a Journey, Take the Scenic Route”!) features Drive Safe With Uncle Bob – a list of 70 defensive driving rules including #1- Pay Attention!!
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