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Volunteer at Manassas Volunteer fire Company
Volunteer at Manassas Volunteer fire Company
April 11 – 17, 2022
Distracted driving is extremely dangerous, claiming 3,000 lives in 2019 alone, a nearly ten percent increase from 2018. Seven percent of all fatal crashes in 2019 were due to distracted driving. Distracted driving is defined as any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your cell phone, eating or drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, or fiddling with stereo, entertainment, or navigation systems – anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.
Types of Distractions:
There are four types of distraction that can be recognized when people are multitasking.
Visual – looking at something other than the road
Auditory – hearing something not related to driving
Manual – manipulating something other than the steering wheel
Cognitive – thinking about something other than driving
Multitasking is a Myth:
Driving and cellphone conversations both require a great deal of thought. When doing them at the same time, your brain is unable to do either very well. While driving, this often results in crashes due to delayed braking times and not seeing traffic signals. Even when talking “hands free”, drivers can miss seeing what is around them because they are engaged in a cell phone conversation.
Multitasking behind the wheel is becoming a life-threatening norm. Nealy forty percent of high school students reported texting or emailing while driving during the last month. Young adults, ages 18-24, who self-report cell phone use while driving also engaged in other risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, running red lights and impatiently passing a car in front on the right-hand side.
Even though teens recognize that talking or texting on a cell phone or using social media apps while driving is unsafe, they still engaged in these activities anyway. Teen drivers receive more call on average than their parents, coupled with their inexperience and lack of driving skills can prove especially deadly for them. Because technology will change and new distractions will be introduced, parents need to be ever vigilant to make sure their teens understand the value of engaged driving, where the driver is continuously attentive and focused.
Parents can provide teens with safe alternatives to cell phone use while driving:
· Complete any call or text before starting the car
· Get directions and try to visualize the destination before turning the key
· Check in with friends and family only after arrival at your destination and parents should avoid calling their teens when they know they are driving
· Another option is to set the “do not disturb” feature on the teens phone
Teens can be the best messengers to their peers, so we should in encourage them to speak up when they see a friend driving while distracted, and to share messages on social media that reminds their friends, family, and neighbors not to make the deadly choice to drive distracted.
Each day in the United States, approximately nine people are killed and more than another thousand are injured in crashes that are reported to have involved a distracted driver. Whether you take your eyes off the road or your hands off the steering wheel, all types of distracted driving increases your risk of car crashes, major injuries and even death.
You are your child’s first and best role model. Show them that safety matters.
Drive distraction free!
References:
Prevent Child Injury – Distracted Driving
https://www.preventchildinjury.org
National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration
National Today – Distracted Driving
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