According to the National Safety Council, 1 in 4 car crashes involves cell phone use.
With some state laws focusing on handheld bans and carmakers putting hands-free technology in vehicles, it is no wonder people are confused. However, while many drivers honestly believe they are making the safe choice by using a hands-free device, it’s just not true. Your brain remains distracted by the conversation.
Texting while driving is even worse. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, texting while driving is even more dangerous than drunk driving, and responsible for 16% of fatal accidents annually. With technology at drivers’ fingertips, drivers are becoming more tempted to send and read quick text messages that they mistakenly assume to be harmless. The truth is, texting while driving takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds and increases the chances of a crash by 23 percent. To put that into perspective, if a vehicle is traveling at 55mph, the average driver doesn’t look at the road for about the length of an entire football field while sending a text!
Watch this short heart breaking video about one family who suffered devastating loss due to distracted driving.
April is distracted driving month, and a good time to tell your children and other family members about the life threatening danger posed by this growing traffic danger. For more information about distracted driving, check out the following website:
http://www.padd.org/index.php/en/homepage