Florida and other states have noticed an upsurge in the amount of accidents that are a result of distracted driving. In 2019 alone, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported 3,142 fatalities from distracted driving. The sad truth is that all of these deaths could have been avoided had the drivers simply put away their distractions.
Defining distracted driving
Distracted driving is becoming a more commonly used term to describe any activity that takes a driver’s attention away from driving. Some of the most common include texting, talking, eating, drinking, fiddling with the stereo or even talking with a passenger. All of these activities require the driver to divert some or all of their attention away from the roadway. This slows down their reaction time to various events that happen on the roadway.
Texting is becoming one of the most alarming types of distracted driving that is leading to motor vehicle accidents. Simply reading a text message may not seem like a big deal. However, it takes about five seconds on average to read a text message. In those five seconds, a lot could happen. Traveling at a rate of 55 miles per hour, that 5-second lapse is equivalent to your car traveling the entire length of a football field. That’s a very long way to go without your attention on the roadway.
It’s time to put an end to distracted driving
As one would likely guess, teenagers have the highest rate of texting while driving. It’s time for parents to encourage their teens to eliminate the habit of texting while driving. One way parents can do this is by setting an example of not texting on their phones while driving down the roadway.
Distracted driving is a growing problem across the United States. Multiple people are getting injured and even killed as a result of other drivers being distracted on the roadway. We owe it to all of our fellow Americans to keep our attention on driving when we get behind the wheel of a vehicle.