What Is Distracted Driving
You're running late and without thinking you hop in your car, put it in drive and start punching in the address of your destination before sending a quick text to your friends informing them that you’re on your way. You take your eyes off the road for a few seconds and suddenly your life is changed. Next thing you know you’re being wheeled into an ambulance and you look over to see your car and the car of a stranger completely wrecked. What happened? You became a part of the 64% of car accidents due to distracted driving.
What is distracted driving and why is it so dangerous? Distracted driving is anything that can interrupt a person’s driving capability, making the driver more prone to accidents. These distractions can range from anything
like brushing your hair, punching in a number, to having a conversation via text message. Most people are under the false belief that multitasking and driving isn’t that hard. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, especially when studying texting and driving. According to studies done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSA), people are six times more likely to get in an accident due to texting and driving than driving drunk. On average an unimpaired driver will take about .54 seconds to brake, a legally drunk driver will need an extra 4 feet to brake, and a driver sending a text will need an extra 70 feet to brake. On average it only takes a distracted driver about three seconds to get in a car accident. These are just a handful of statistics that surround distracted driving.
Drivers often don’t think about how one little distraction such as texting can permanently change their life or the life of others. While a car accident may only take seconds to happen, it can result in years worth of damage or worse, loss of life. People are starting to become more aware of the dangers of distracted driving. Millions of people have taken the “It can wait” pledge to stop driving distracted and help raise awareness about the dangers distracted driving. People are also practicing “driver safe” methods like turning down the radio, never driving impaired, and always being cautious of other drivers. Take the “It can wait” pledge today and make driving on your streets safer for everyone.
What is distracted driving and why is it so dangerous? Distracted driving is anything that can interrupt a person’s driving capability, making the driver more prone to accidents. These distractions can range from anything
like brushing your hair, punching in a number, to having a conversation via text message. Most people are under the false belief that multitasking and driving isn’t that hard. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, especially when studying texting and driving. According to studies done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSA), people are six times more likely to get in an accident due to texting and driving than driving drunk. On average an unimpaired driver will take about .54 seconds to brake, a legally drunk driver will need an extra 4 feet to brake, and a driver sending a text will need an extra 70 feet to brake. On average it only takes a distracted driver about three seconds to get in a car accident. These are just a handful of statistics that surround distracted driving.
Drivers often don’t think about how one little distraction such as texting can permanently change their life or the life of others. While a car accident may only take seconds to happen, it can result in years worth of damage or worse, loss of life. People are starting to become more aware of the dangers of distracted driving. Millions of people have taken the “It can wait” pledge to stop driving distracted and help raise awareness about the dangers distracted driving. People are also practicing “driver safe” methods like turning down the radio, never driving impaired, and always being cautious of other drivers. Take the “It can wait” pledge today and make driving on your streets safer for everyone.