Driving is something that too many people take lightly these days. Although new driver assist technologies can help, nothing beats being a careful driver. Distracted drivers are one of the biggest causes of car accidents on the road today. Distracted driving can be defined as what occurs when a person engages in any activity that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving. There are many forms of distracted driving, but most experts agree that there are three main categories.
The main categories of distracted driving are, manual, in which the driver takes their hands off the wheel, visual in which the driver takes their eyes off the road, and cognitive where the drivers mind is someplace else.
We all have the tendency of getting distracted. Being aware that distraction is possible should prompt us to 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.
One of the most dangerous things you can do while driving is to text. Texting while driving should always be avoided. In too many cases cellphones showing incomplete text messages have been recovered from vehicles after crashes. This can only mean that the individual was texting at the time of the crash. It’s difficult to imagine anything being so important that it can’t wait until one is not driving to text about.
Talking on the phone while driving is also extremely dangerous. According to some studies, even using hands free equipment to use the phone while driving does not make it any safer. It is safer to Just leave the phone calls for when you’re not driving.
Many people eat while driving which is also one of the most dangerous things you can do while at the wheel. Eating while driving is thought by some to be even more dangerous than texting while driving. Stop if you get hungry.
Becoming distracted while driving can happen to anyone 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.
