Avoiding Distracted Driving

Distracted drivers than cause more road traffic accidents by anything else.  When a survey was carried out among drivers who admitted they were at fault for an accident, nearly 80% of them admitted it was because they were distracted and not concentrating on the road ahead. It can be hard sometimes to stay focused on your driving, especially if it is a long journey. There are some things that can make distractions more likely, and you should avoid them if you can.

Cell Phones

These are one of the most obvious distractions, which is why in most states it is against the law to use them while driving unless they are on a hands-free set. Even then, you should only use them in an emergency because a call or text message can distract you, even if your phone does not require you to touch it to listen to the call or read the message.

Social calls and messaging should not take place while you are driving. If you think there is something you really need to deal with, pull off the road at the next safe spot and turn off your engine while you make whatever calls you need to.

Children

Children chattering can be a big enough distraction without them being able to move around the car while you are driving. Car seat laws are not there for no reason, but to save lives and serious injury when accidents do occur. Between 2002 and 2011, more than 9,000 children were killed in road accidents in the US because they were improperly restrained.

Need A Break?

If you start to feel tired while you are driving you should pull off the road and take a break. Research carried out by the government showed that 37% of drivers admitted they had fallen asleep at the wheel at some time. Some drivers try to deal with this problem by increasing their speed to rich their destination faster. This can be a fatal mistake and not one you should ever try.

Avoid Eating

There is no excuse for eating while you are driving, it is not something you should do, it is as simple as that. If you do not have time to finish your breakfast, then get something else when you get to work. It might feel like you are saving time if you grab a piece of toast to eat on the way to take the kids to school, but in reality you will be less attentive and will be putting yourself, your children and other road users at risk of being injured or worse.

Don’t Do You Hair Or Makeup In The Traffic Queue

If you have not has time to get ready properly for the day ahead, you should not try to put in a bit more of your makeup every time you get in a queue of traffic. This is stupidity pure and simple, yet you do see people doing it. They cannot be worrying about their makeup and concentrating on the road ahead.

It only takes being distracted for a couple of seconds for an accident to happen, so keep as many distractions as you can out of your car.