With the month of April wrapping up, our Florida Auto Accident Attorneys at Whittel & Melton wanted to remind everyone about a few distracted driving tips that can help you stay safe on the roads.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its 2021 report on fatal crashes this month showing some startling statistics. In 2021, 3,522 people died in distracted driving crashes throughout the United States. In this same year, a total of 43,000 lives were taken in car crashes, a 10.5% increase from 2020. This is the largest percentage increase in car crash fatalities since 1975.
Distracted driving easily happens and can involve anything that causes drivers to avert their eyes from the road onto something else. The most common distracted driving behaviors we hear about involve cell phones or other electronic devices – making phone calls, sending/reading text messages, checking emails, scrolling through social media, playing games, watching videos, etc. These are all dangerous activities to do while driving as this increases your odds of becoming involved in a car crash.
There are also other distractions that can affect motorists while driving, including:
- Eating or drinking
- Applying makeup or engaging in other personal grooming
- Adjusting a car’s radio dials or fiddling with AC/Heat controls
- Typing in GPS navigation directions
- Reaching for objects on other seats or on floorboards
- Daydreaming
- Checking out billboards, buildings, other cars, pedestrians, bikers, etc.
- Engaging in conversations with passengers in the vehicle
- Trying to help children in the back seat with something
- Jotting down a quick note
- Reading a newspaper/magazine/book
The thing about driving is that motorists behind the wheel must be able to react quickly to what is happening around them. When drivers are distracted, they simply cannot do this. Any distracted driving behavior that takes your eyes off the road for a mere 5 seconds when traveling at 55 mph is the equivalent of driving the entire length of a football field with your eyes closed. If you are reading a text message and fail to see the driver in front of you has slowed down or stopped, then you could cause a rear-end crash.
The dangers of distracted driving only increase the faster the speed you are travelling. If you are on an interstate or highway and fail to notice an obstacle in your path, then you could wind up causing a dangerous pileup crash or even a rollover accident.
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