Driving While Distracted

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of flickr

With yesterday being New Year’s Day, I thought I’d point out the fact that if you did celebrate the holiday with a few adult beverages, hopefully you had the good sense not to drink and drive.  That being said, I’d like to point out the fact that while drunk drivers cause more than their fair share of accidents, driving while drunk is hardly the only hazard that plagues drivers in the US.  An even more insidious and dangerous hazard is driving while distracted.  You heard me right, while drunk driving causes accidents galore, in today’s fast-paced world, this is hardly the only hazard to navigation on the highways and byways that stretch from coast to coast.  Below is my list of other potentially deadly driver distractions.   

Highway to the Distraction Zone

Vehicles nowadays aren’t so much cars as they are computers on wheels.  Equipped with all kinds of modern conveniences including stereo system, touchscreen, cellphone interface, GPS, and in some cases seat-back video displays, it’s a wonder that drivers today are able to focus on keeping their cars on the road.  Add to it that many cars now also come equipped with motion sensors, lane-deviation warnings, backup cameras and other ‘safety features’ and you can see how distraction-filled a vehicle can become.

Studies conducted in the 1960’s by the Air Force determined that too many things going on at once in the cockpit has a tendency to create problems.  The reason the military funded the research was because an inordinate number of aircraft were shot down in Vietnam because pilots were being inundated with too much information at once.  If you’ve ever piloted a light-plane, you know it takes all your concentration just to keep the wings level and communicate with air traffic control.  For combat pilots, it’s also important to be aware of other factors, such as whether your aircraft is being tracked on an enemy radar, as well as if a surface to air missile is headed your way.  To try to alert fighter and bomber pilots to imminent hazards, military aircraft manufacturers began including audible signals meant to warn pilots of danger.  The problem was that most pilots found that their brain simply tuned out the aural warnings.  This led to aircraft being shot down and crews lost.

While you may not be required to fly over war torn areas, there are several things you need to heed so you won’t zone out on the road:

Image courtesy USAF

1.      Talking or texting – While everyone knows it isn’t safe to text or talk on the phone while driving, all too many drivers do it anyway.  Anything that causes you to look away from the road for even a second can lead to disaster.  Like it or not, if you’re buzzing down the highway at 70 MPH, your vehicle covers more than 100 feet per second.  If you look away for a second and another driver decides to hit the brakes or change lanes, you could quickly wind up in a wreck that you otherwise would have avoided.  My recommendation is that you refrain from answering the phone, much less texting, while driving, especially while on the highway.  That’s why voicemail was invented.

2.      Eating or drinking – A couple of years ago, I met a tourist from Germany who was visiting Florida.  When I asked him what he thought about driving in the US, the response he gave me was surprising.  He never mentioned such things as sometimes shoddy road conditions or lack of lane discipline that are prevalent in this country.  What he couldn’t believe was that his rental car had cup holders.  He told me you’d never find such things in cars in Germany.  Anything that has the potential to distract motorists are prohibited by law.  While our laws aren’t as strict as those in Germany, it made me stop to think of how many distractions American drivers contend with on a daily basis. 

Image courtesy of wikimedia

3.      Smoking in the car – Aside from being a health risk, smoking while driving can also lead to accidents.  In the first place, any time you light up, there is always a potential fire hazard.  On top of that, since auto manufacturers no longer equip vehicles in this country with ashtrays, dealing with ashes and cigarette butts is definitely distracting. 

4.      Grooming – Believe it or not, I still see the occasional motorist brushing their hair, applying makeup or shaving while on the road.  If you’re so pressed for time that you find it necessary to groom yourself as you drive, you either need to invest in a better alarm clock or change jobs. 

5.      Reading – If you asked most people how often they read while driving, they would probably deny doing so.  I mean, it’s not as though they are likely to peruse their Kindle while speeding down I-95.  What they fail to acknowledge is that in any vehicle equipped with a touch screen, it’s all too easy to take your eyes off the road to check your fuel consumption or input a destination on your GPS. 

6.      Music – While I realize that there are millions of drivers who wouldn’t consider driving without having their stereo on, this too can easily become a hazard to navigation.  Taking your hands off the wheel to change stations or adjust the volume is distracting.  Depending on how high you turn the volume, you may not be able to hear car horns or emergency vehicle sirens. 

Image courtesy of Pixabay

7.      Kids in the car – Like it or not, driving with kids in the car virtually guarantees you’re going to have to deal with constant distractions.  In fact, the more children in the car, the more distracted a driver is bound to become.  That’s because as demanding as one child in a car can be, driving with two or more increases the odds of bickering in the backseat, which is bound to make a driver glance in the rear-view to tell the kids, “Don’t make me pull over.”

Dealing with Distractions

While it’s impossible to eliminate distractions while driving, there are several steps you can take to minimize them.  Some of these take conscious effort, like refusing to answer the phone unless the vehicle is at a complete standstill or programming your vehicle’s GPS before you hit the road.  As for dealing with passengers, you need to make sure the kids have something to occupy their time, so they won’t pester each other or you.  Last but not least, the most important reason to stay focused on what’s happening around you is to watch out for other distracted drivers.  While you can control what happens in your vehicle, you certainly can’t force others on the road to adopt safer driving habits.  

 

Catherine Powell is the owner of A Plus All Florida, Insurance in Orange Park, Florida.  To find out more about saving money on your auto insurance, check out her website at http://autoinsuranceorangeparkfl.com/