
Probably the most obvious distraction that comes to mind is using
a cell phone when driving – talking, texting, checking email, taking selfies. The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notes that texting is
the most alarming distraction because it takes your eyes off the road. If you
take your eyes off the road for even five seconds, at 55 mph, it’s like driving
the length of a football field with your eyes closed! Now that’s scary.
But cell phone use isn’t the only distraction. How about
blaring music, fiddling with the radio or any other buttons on the dashboard, trying
to program your GPS after you’ve already started driving, juggling food that
you just picked up at the drive-through, trying to reach for something in the
back seat, personal grooming? The list goes on. In this world of multi-tasking,
we often feel the pressure to be able to handle several things at once. Behind
the wheel is not the place to
practice that fine art.
It’s estimated that distracted driving leads to more than
3,100 fatalities and 400,000 injuries each year in the U.S. That should be enough to make us realize that
distracted driving definitely isn’t worth it. Sorry to say, it’s not. And
that’s a problem. Too often, we think that we can beat the odds; get away with it
just once; it won’t happen to me; and so on and so on and so on. That kind of
thinking is dangerous to you and the other drivers on the road.
Be safe. Be smart. Just Drive!
Posted by MJ Thomas
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