As some of you know, April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. As a transportation company, we want to play our part in making people aware of numerous ways that people drive distracted. Many people do not normally consider many of these common distractions to be dangerous; make sure to read the list carefully to recognize which habits of yours pose more of a danger than you may think!
Most obviously, texting on your cell phone!
Using the voice to text feature on a smartphone.
Taking pictures or videos while driving.
Reading ANYTHING (books, papers, emails, texts, social media, etc.)
Talking to somebody on your cell phone while holding the phone up to your ear.
Talking to somebody on your cell phone while they are on speakerphone.
Having an intense conversation with one of your passengers.
Changing the radio station.
Otherwise fiddling with your car’s entertainment system.
Using voice commands to operate your car’s entertainment system.
Using a GPS system.
Looking at a map.
Adjusting the heat/air conditioning.
Adjusting mirrors while driving.
Adjusting windows/moonroof.
Listening and singing along to your music.
Eating food.
Drinking a drink.
Smoking a cigarette.
Fixing your hair.
Fixing your makeup.
Putting on/taking off a jacket.
Reaching for items on the passenger seat/backseat/floor.
Driving while feeling strong emotions.
Gawking at wrecks or other road drama.
Were you surprised by any of the acts on this list? Do you wonder how some of these acts count as distractions? There are three categories of driving distractions:
Manual, which make you take your hand(s) off the steering wheel
Visual, which make you take your eyes off the road,
Cognitive, which make you take your mind off the act of driving.
Every act on this list falls under at least one of these distraction categories, so we must do our best to avoid all of these behaviors and focus on just driving!
Can you think of any more dangerous behaviors that should be on this list? If so, share them in the comments to raise awareness of distracted driving!
