Pay Attention on the Road!
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month which is a great reminder that all drivers need to pay attention on the road. Drivers have always had distractions like the radio, passengers or that new billboard with the funny joke. However, since the advent of mobile phones, especially smart phones, the number of accidents involving distracted drivers has soared.
The Problem
Most of us are used to multi-tasking these days – think scrolling on social media while watching tv. And for many people that includes multi-tasking while driving. It takes just a split second for an ordinary drive to turn into disaster.
Most people spend more than a split second reading a text, typing a location into the GPS or reacting to a post on social media. Reading a text can take 5 seconds, plus the extra time it takes for your eyes to re-adjust to the road ahead. Driving at 55 MPH, that 5 seconds would be long enough to drive across an entire football field. That’s a huge distance to travel without watching where you’re going!
Over 3000 deaths per year are caused by drivers not paying attention to their main job – driving. These deaths include drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and other innocent bystanders. Unless something changes, more and more deaths and accidents will keep happening.
The Solution
We know that the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) designates April to remind us about the perils of distracted driving. They have also created the U Drive. U Text. U Pay. campaign to get the word out about the dangers and consequences of not paying attention behind the wheel.
All of us have the responsibility to avoid distracted driving and to encourage others to do the same. Parents teaching teenagers to drive must insist that phones be left in the back seat or that only a passenger can respond or navigate. Hands-free devices can help, by allowing drivers to keep hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. But the device itself is a distraction no matter if it’s hand-held or not.
We hope you will read more about the NHTSA campaign and take the pledge to pay attention to the road while driving. We should all encourage our friends and families to do the same!
Cultris Security cares about your safety! Let’s all pledge to #justdrive.
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