There are a lot of ways in which a driver can be distracted. The most commonly known distraction is, of course, the cellphone, but there are also other distractions to watch out for like your GPS, eating food, drinking coffee, daydreaming, or really anything that leads to you taking your mind off the road and the happenings around your vehicle. Statistically, no other activity has as high a death toll as distracted driving, which makes it so important that you learn how to keep you and your passengers safe at all times.
The Three Types of Distractions:
• Visual: something causes you to look away from the road
• Manual: something or someone causes you to take your hands away from the steering wheel
• Mental: something causes you to lose mental focus
The most dangerous activity to be performing while driving is without a doubt texting. Statistics have shown that people who text while driving are twenty-three times as likely to be involved in a motor vehicle collision compared to all other drivers who remain focused.
The Consequences of Distracted Driving
Even if you are keeping an eye on the road while changing your GPS destination or switching out the CD in your dashboard stereo, there are still consequences to these forms of distractions. You may only be looking away for a second but that could still take away precious moments that could have saved you from colliding with the truck that came to a sudden halt a few feet ahead of you.
Proven side effects of distracted driving include a significantly shortened reaction time, an inability to make quick decisions, and the potential to cause harm to yourself, passengers, other motorists, pedestrians, and anybody else depends on your competence as a driver.
You may have convinced yourself that you are a fantastic multitasker, even while you are driving, but that is far from true. Researchers have long since proven that multitasking is a myth. All you are doing is diverting your attention back and forth between the different tasks you are undertaking. And when one of those activities is to prevent yourself and others from being harmed, it should be prioritized above all else and receive your undivided attention.
It should also be mentioned that the products that talking to people on loud speaker is still distracting. You may have both hands on the wheel but your attention is still divided. As per tort laws, you can be sued by the plaintiff’s injury lawyer in Milton, if you were driving and caused the accident due to a distraction. That is why it is important to adhere to the traffic laws and regulations while on the road.