Driving Distracted - Stop It Before It Starts.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to become distracted while driving. Whether it’s responding to a text message, adjusting the radio, or even chatting with a passenger, these distractions often take our attention away from the one thing that should always be our focus: the road ahead.

Anyone who operates a vehicle knows you don't text, and you definitely don’t drink, while driving. However, distracted and dangerous driving doesn’t stop there. Anything that takes your attention off the road can have serious, even deadly, consequences.

To put it in perspective, the average time a driver spends looking at their phone while texting is approximately five seconds. At 55 miles per hour, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field.

In those five seconds, your vehicle could easily travel into another lane, miss a stop sign, or fail to stop in time for a red light.

Those five seconds have had catastrophic consequences, in the last year alone. During 2024, distracted driving caused approximately 3,000 deaths and over 400,000 vehicular injuries. That’s over 8 deaths and nearly 1,100 injuries PER DAY.

It’s easy to throw statistics out there, but what does that mean to the average driver? It means every single one of us can work to be more aware of our surroundings, drive more safely, minimize distractions, and keep our eyes on the road.

“Distracted driving” is an incredibly broad term. So, let’s spell it out. Distracted driving is ANYTHING that takes your attention off the road and driving. The obvious ones are talking and texting on your phone, while driving, but there’s more.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distractions can be classified into three main categories:

1. Visual distractions: Taking your eyes off the road.
2. Manual distractions: Taking your hands off the wheel.
3. Cognitive distractions: Taking your mind off driving.

Eating, changing the music, putting a new address in your GPS, even just chatting with passengers – all of it takes your ears, your eyes, and your mind off the road.

The good news is that you are in control of the distractions in your vehicle. Follow these steps to reduce distractions & enhance your focus on the road.

• Program your GPS before you take off & make sure that whatever you’re using as a navigation system is secure, before you leave.
• Make any necessary calls before you leave. If possible, avoid taking calls while you’re driving, and under no circumstances should you text and drive. Not only is texting and driving illegal in most states, it is one of the leading causes of distracted driving traffic deaths. 
• Ensure your belongings are properly stored and secure, before you head out. Laptops, cases, and any other bags, cups, objects, etc., need to be put away and contained. Make sure nothing is going to shift and move, causing you to react without thinking.
• If something drops, leave it until you are safely parked and can pick it up, without taking your eyes off the road.

These steps aren’t foolproof. You can’t control other drivers. While we wish that everyone would follow these rules, that isn’t the case. By maintaining focus on the road, you can also react more quickly to other drivers, on the road.

Great, you’ve taken all the right steps. Now what? What’s the benefit to you?

Other than the most obvious – arriving safely at your destination – there are other perks to driving safely. Every time you avoid an accident, you avoid an accident- related ticket. You avoid filing a claim. No tickets mean no fines. Not filing claims means no extra expenses and your rates won’t increase due to tickets and/or claim payouts.

It’s hard to keep intense focus on the road in a world that is constantly on the move. But, the time and stress from an accident just isn’t worth it.

Remember, multitasking is a myth. Any time you pull even a small portion of your attention to do something simultaneously, you are distracted. Make small, achievable changes to your routine, before you put it in gear.

By making little changes, you can have a huge impact on your safety & your wallet.  While April may be Distracted Driving Awareness month, everyone should practice safe driving all year long. Focus on driving and arrive to drive another day.