According to police reports analyzed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, nearly 20% of fatal car accidents from 2010 and 2017 involved at least one distracted driver.
If you take your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel, or your mind off of driving, you are driving distracted. Here are the top 10 distractions in accidents involving at least one fatality.
This month is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, so today let’s discuss the most common causes of distracted driving here in Florida, and what you can do to solve it.
Top Five Most Common Distractions
Reaching or Reacting to a Device
The most common items reached for by another 2 percent of drivers were a GPS or headphones. Other common items may include the aux cord. Taking a hand off of the wheel can cause an accident, and it is very possible that you will have to look away from the road to find the device.
Passengers In Your Vehicle
5 percent of drivers involved in these crashes were talking to or looking at a passenger. Try not to have any distracting conversations, and never take your eyes off the road to look at someone else in your car.
Rubbernecking
Rubbernecking is when a wreck or other distraction is happening outside of the vehicle, and the driver turns their head to watch the drama. 7 percent of the accidents were caused by this. It can be tempting to to watch, but avoiding watching the cleanup after a wreck can keep you from having a wreck of your own.
Mobile Phones
Using your cell phone while driving is incredibly dangerous. Drivers using their cell phone for talking or texting accounted for 12 percent of the distracted drivers. Texting is the number one worst way to use your cell phone while driving, which is why many states have passed laws making it illegal.
Keep in mind that we use out mobile devices for much more than texting, so this includes driving and Instagramming, or Facebook, or emailing, etc.
Daydreaming
Have you ever gotten home and realized you had zoned out while driving and don’t remember certain sections of the journey? This type of driving counted for an astounding 62 percent of fatal accidents in the study. Make every effort to stay as alert as possible while driving. Even if you have driven a certain route for years, don’t trust yourself on autopilot. Keep your thoughts centered around driving.
How To Stop The Distractions
Make a habit of thinking about what calls or texts you need to send before you begin your trip. Before you start the car, take a moment to think about what information you might need during the trip.
For instance, program your GPS at the outset, rather than fiddling with it during the drive. Make that call to ask your mom a question before you’re on the road. Text your friend that vital piece of gossip, then put away the phone.
Tech Solutions
Apple’s iPhone comes with a new Do Not Disturb while driving feature that you can turn on. This feature will not notify you to alerts and notifications while driving, and can even be setup to send out a pre written response to text messages. There’s also an option that allows certain callers in your contact list to get through and notify you by calling twice during your drive. This way you don’t have to worry that you’re going to miss an emergency call, but can still be safe while driving.
Android phones have multiple apps, including SafeDrive that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.
