In this day and age, with a small device, you can take your entire world along with you on the road. Whether you’re heading to the office or home, the grocery store or your in-laws for the holidays, we have never been more available to the rest of the world 24/7. Because of this, drivers everywhere are driving distracted.
Phone calls, GPS, texting, emails, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat – they all boil down to one thing: your attention not being on the road. Maintaining concentration and focus on the operation of your vehicle and awareness of the road conditions and other drivers has never been harder, but the price has also never been higher.
Statistics have been pouring in the past few years on the cost of distracted driving and fatal crashes. In 2013, more than 3,000 people in the US died in car accidents where distracted driving was determined to be a factor or a cause. That’s 3,000 or more families affected by the loss of a loved one because someone determined it was more important to answer a text or an email, or even a call, than it was to pay attention to the road.
“It can wait, Text stop 5 miles” signs have cropped up on roadways across the nation, and with good reason. Whatever is going on in your life or on the other end of that phone, it can wait until you get yourself and your loved ones to your destination.
The National Safety Council urges you all to take a pledge to be an attentive driver this month and choose to not drive distracted. The pledge states,
“I pledge to Take Back My Drive for my own safety and for others with whom I share the roads. I choose to not drive distracted in any way – I will not:
- Have a phone conversation – handheld, hands-free, or via Bluetooth
- Text or send Snapchats
- Use voice-to-text features in my vehicle’s dashboard system
- Update Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, Vine or other social media
- Check or send emails
- Take selfies or film videos
- Input destinations into GPS (while the vehicle is in motion)
- Call or message someone else when I know they are driving”
Who can you make a pledge for this April and keep yourself, and everyone around you safer while you’re on the road?
For more information on distracted driving and what you can do to prevent it, visit the National Safety Council’s site here: https://www.nsc.org/learn/NSC-Initiatives/Pages/distracted-driving-awareness-month.aspx
