Distracted driving is the most common cause of accidents.
The most common distraction is texting or looking at your cell phone.
The National Insurance Highway Institute describes 3 types of distractions:
- Visual – taking your eyes off the road;
- Manual – taking your hands off the wheel; and
- Cognitive – taking your mind off what you’re doing.
In order to best avoid distractions: put away any device that might tempt you to stray away from the driving task at hand.
If you have kids in the car, make sure they are securely in their safety seats before departing. Make sure the DVD is loaded, coffee is in the cup holder, and everyone has their snacks, tissues and barf buckets.
If you have a long road trip in front of you, make sure you are well rested and alert. Have your destination plugged into your navigation system and, of course, your seat belt is on.
This time of year it can be difficult with fogged windows, ice, snow, rain and snow banks, to see out your windshield.
Spend extra time warming up your auto, de-fogging windows, scraping windows, mirrors and make certain your windshield wipers are in good working order.
Most important: pay attention while driving.
With proper planning and a little patience, we can help avoid the dangers of distracted driving.