Helpful Tips For Preventing Distracted Driving

With our society’s ever-increasing dependence on mobile devices, distracted driving has risen significantly becoming one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents. According to statistics from Distraction.Gov in 2014 alone 3,179 people were killed and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle accidents that were caused by distracted drivers. These facts show just how serious this problem has become and why we all need to make the effort to prevent ourselves from becoming distracted, especially by our cell phones, while driving. Below we have a few helpful hints that we encourage you to keep in mind the next time you get behind the wheel.

1.) Silence/Hide Phone – We have all become so conditioned to the sound of a phone ringing or a text message notification that we automatically check our phones every time we hear one go off. Therefore, one tip to avoid this happening while driving is to put your phone on silent so that you will not hear it if anyone calls or messages you. That way the impulse to reach for your phone will not be there. Also, you can try putting your phone out of reach such as placing it in your purse then, putting the purse in your backseat so that even if you do hear it you will not be able to answer it.

2.) Designated Texter – Having a designated driver when you plan on drinking is a precaution that most of us have employed. So why not do the same for texting? When you are traveling with companions designate one of them to be your texter for the duration of the ride so that you can still send and receive your messages and keep your attention on the task at hand.

3.) Pull Over – If you receive a message or phone call that you absolutely need to answer while on the road, the best thing to do is to find a safe place to pull over so that out can respond safely without trying to do so while still attempting to navigate the vehicle.

4.) Plan Ahead – One more solution to preventing driving and texting is to take care of all necessary communication before you get behind the wheel. Take care of any phone calls or texts that you need to send ahead of time and then let anyone who may try and get in touch with you know that you are going to be driving so that they will not call or text while you’re on the road.

“Safety Tips to Avoid Distracted Driving.” Digital Responsibility. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2016. <http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/safety-tips-to-avoid-distracted-driving/>. “Facts and Statistics.” Distraction.Gov. N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.distraction.gov%2Fstats-research-laws%2Ffacts-and-statistics.html>.

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