What is considered distracted driving? Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system — anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.
Let’s look at 8 important facts about distracted driving that all drivers should know before getting behind the wheel:
- Research suggests that deaths from traffic crashes are on the rise because of all the distractions drivers face. Distractions inside the car give us too many things to look at (and listen to) — from GPS devices and infotainment systems to cell phones, smart watched and other electronics.
- Multitasking is a myth. Research shows that when you’re doing two things at once, your brain is actually just switching between tasks very rapidly. Every additional task you do while driving detracts from your ability to drive well and increases your chance of having a collision.
- It takes your brain up to 13 seconds to refocus on your surroundings after looking at your cell phone — even if you “only glanced at it for a second.” As your brain refocuses, your driving skills are not at their best.
- More than 2.5 million people are involved in crashes each year, and distracted driving is the leading cause. By some estimates, as many as 1,000 people are injured every day in crashes related to distracted driving.
- When you attempt to multitask while driving, your eye activity slows down and your problem-solving skills are diminished.
- A person who texts and drives is six times as likely to have a crash than someone who drives drunk.
- Eating while driving is riskier than talking on a cell phone. Food can cause problems like spills and leaks that demand your immediate attention and may cause you to take your eyes off the road. If you’re eating, you’re also taking at least one hand off the wheel, which reduces your ability to react to driving situations.
- Seventy-seven percent of vehicle crashes happen within 15 miles of your destination. When we get familiar with our surroundings, we tend to relax and let our guard down. Doing this makes us less alert to changes in the driving environment and more prone to distraction.
Should you or a family member be in an accident which injuries are sustained, the first thing you should do is contact a personal injury attorney. When you are represented by a skilled attorney, you’ll have your best chance of being fairly compensated for any injuries that you sustain in an accident.
Call Jacobson, Schrinsky & Houck in Milwaukee today at (414) 223-4444 or contact us online to have one of our caring lawyers come out to meet you and get car accident help today and money for your injuries. There is no fee until we win.
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