Avoiding Texting and Driving
The website DoSomething.org states that, “Five seconds is the minimal amount of attention that a driver who texts takes away from the road. If traveling at 55 mph, this equals driving the length of a football field without looking at the road.”
Diverting your attention away from the road for any amount of time can result in a serious accident causing harm to you, your passengers, as well as other drivers and their occupants on the road. You even put pedestrians animals and property at risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared that texting and the use a cell phone are forms of distracted driving. Visual, manual, and cognitive are the three main types of distracted driving.
Taking your eyes off the road to text is visually distracting.
Texting takes your hands off the wheel which is manually distracting. Thinking of anything but driving is cognitive.
You can help to avoid texting and driving with the tips below:
- Using silent mode, instead of vibration mode on your phone.
- Turning off your phone. This doesn’t allow texting at all.
- Placing it away in the vehicle’s trunk or glove box until you’ve safely reached your destination.
- Using an app that doesn’t permit texting while driving.
Studies show that that 1 in 5 drivers text while driving on the road. Whether it’s you or someone that is the driver of your vehicle, it’s important to encourage your friends and family members not to text while driving so they can better focus on getting you all to the desired destination safely.
Even when travelling as a passenger, try to control the urge to check your phone. It’s a good way to help motivate other drivers in your life to put safety first. There is no text message or status update in the world that is important enough to create a dangerous accident situation. Texting a friend isn’t worth the price of never being able to see them again.
The amount of damage to vehicles driven by people texting is catastrophic. To keep your vehicle intact and to avoid careless accidents from taking place, just put your phone away. You do not need it while you drive. Once you get to your destination safely, then it’s fine to catch up with the world.
If you are experiencing any auto repair issues with your vehicle, call the expert technicians at AAMCO Lee’s Summit today for a convenient appointment.
