Are you a Distracted Driver?

Driving is an ability that requires your complete attention to safely control your car or SUV vehicle and react to events happening on the roads around you. Driving involves stable and multifaceted coordination between your mind and body. Events or things that prevent you from operating your car safely are distractions. There are four basic types of distractions:

• Focusing on something other than the road - Visual Distractions

• Talking to someone - Audible Distractions

• Eating - Physical Distractions

• Something that requires you to consider other than driving - Cognitive Distractions

When you think about the actions you do in your car or SUV vehicle, other than just driving, you can see that they frequently involve more than one type of distraction. For example, if you change your radio station, you take a hand off the steering wheel to press a button, and take your eyes off the road to look at what button you would like to press.

If you’ve ever driven down the road grumbling about the distracted drivers on their cell phones – while admiring the scenery – you’ve been guilty of being the same kind of distracted driver you’re complaining about.

Driver distractions are the foremost reason of most vehicle crashes and near-crashes. According to a study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some outline of driver distraction. The distraction takes place within three seconds before the vehicle crashes!

Regardless of the possible for serious injuries, even death, consequently of an auto accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says driver distraction is a contributing factor in over 50% of all crashes.

Americans, NHTSA adds, see driving as a uncomplicated, everyday task, particularly when they’re in a well-known environment. So we take on other easy tasks while we’re at the wheel. In the meantime our highways are getting more crowded as the number of drivers and vehicles grows. That increasing jamming makes driving more tedious – and more unsafe.

Additional to that are:

• A fast paced world where speed and multi-tasking are appreciated.

• People who are overwhelmed with tasks for work and home.

• Technological advances that provide us with a range of electronic devices to use while driving consisting radios, CDs, phones, faxes, video, GPS devices and computers.

The answer isn’t easy, but education and training to increase consciousness of the seriousness of distracted car or SUV driving and the dangers it causes are the remedies most commonly recommended by driving safety professionals.

Legislation is also a possibility. In a number of states, engaging in any sort of distraction while driving is against the law. Using a cell phone while driving is illegal in five US states. 11 states charge a ticket for texting while driving. However that won’t help with drivers who are distracted by a dog on the sidewalk or the scenery.

There are moments in our lives when something off the road has caught our eye and we have been distracted from the road for a split second or longer. Here are some of the more general reasons why you could get distracted:

1. Use of a mobile phone - this is still by far the most common reason for a driver to be distracted, whether they are actually using the phone of just seeing who is calling / reading a text.

2. Changing the radio - we have all done it, reached down to change the radio station and taken our eyes off the road for a flash second, but that is all that it takes.

3. Getting something from the rear seat or floor - many people have been caught out reaching into the back seat of their car, or bending down to pick something off the floor. Absolutely crazy!

4. Eating - the traffic authorities are now clamping down on people who eat while they drive, in disagreement (quite rightly) that they cannot be in complete control of the vehicle.

5. Lighting a cigarette - while this is not as ordinary incidence as it once was, many drivers can simply get distracted while lighting up a cigarette.

6. A simple chat with a passenger - these have been the cause for many serious incidents, and are so easy to avoid. You should never divert a driver attention while the vehicle is in motion.

7. Shaving or applying makeup! While this possibly will seem unbelievable to a regular driver, many people have been caught and put on trial for either shaving or applying make-up while driving!

8. Controversial billboards - Amazingly there have been many accidents which have happened due to a driver’s concentration been distracted for a split second by a billboard.

9. Checking out an accident! As mad as it seems, the sight of an accident on the other side of the road / motorway has often resulted in a mass pileups as other drivers stretch their necks to see what is happening.

10. Waving to pedestrians on the side of the road has time and again been the cause of many accidents - whether it is family friends or someone you like the look of.

Drivers who engage more often in distracted driving are more likely to be caught up in a vehicle crash or a near-crash accident.

Consumer electronics, used appropriately and in accordance with regulations and producer guidelines, should make travel safer and support drivers in keeping their eyes and attention on the road. For instance, following voice prompts from your car direction-finding system is safer than trying to read a map or printed instruction. New back-up cameras and bumper sensors can make drivers more responsive of pedestrians or obstacles that may not be visible. On long drives, listening to your most recent digital music play-list or much loved satellite radio station will be more relaxing (and less distracting) than changing your radio station every few miles.

Keep in mind, if you wish to use electronics when you drive, get them set up before you put the car in gear.

Comparison of Distraction Crashes, by Severity, for the Current and Previous Definitions for Distraction

Limiting the distractions you respond to is the first step toward safer travel.

Recent media coverage has focused interest on personal or in-vehicle electronics as a main culprit in driver distraction, particularly with respect to cell phones. Though, many regular activities or behaviors are normally the cause of distraction-related accidents.

Multi-tasking may be the only way to cope at work or at home, but it’s something to avoid behind the wheel. Remember, when driving, always watch The Road.

Every individual can help stem the tide of distracted driving and the resulting accidents that happen. Here’s what each driver needs to do:

• Limit your interaction with your passenger – even talking can be distracting.

• Keep your eyes on the road. Keep both hands on the wheel.

• Stay focused on the road and pull off to refresh yourself if you start to daydream or if you find yourself getting tired.

• Switch drivers regularly on long trips.

• Don’t drive when you’re angry or upset.

• Don’t rubberneck or try to view the scenery as you speed by it.

• Pull over before you use your cell phone.

• Review maps before hitting the road.

• Do your personal grooming at home.

• Use the memory dial feature on your cell phone each time possible while your driving.

• Use preset radio stations.

• Don’t try to retrieve items that fall to the floor.

• Avoid smoking, eating and drinking while driving.

• Avoid taking calls while driving, or use a hands-free gadget.

• Instruct your children the significance of good behavior in cars.

• Ask a passenger to serve as your “co-pilot.”

• Avoid stressful/emotional/provoking conversations either with a passenger or on your cell phone.

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