Are You Guilty Of Distracted Driving? [Poll]
If you answer the question "Are you guilty of distracted driving" with a no, then you are telling yourself a tall tale. We are ALL guilty of distracted driving, probably much of the time.
You might be surprised at the definition of what distracted driving means. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, distracted driving is defined as "driving while not fully paying attention to the road." Most people thing that this only includes texting or talking on the phone but there are many other things that can distract a driver:
- Reaching for your phone.
- Changing the music.
- Using an app. NOTE: There are apps that help fight distracted driving by helping to keep you off your phone while you are behind the wheel.
- Checking your GPS or map.
- Taking a photo.
- Checking email or posting to social media sites.
- Eating and drinking.
- Putting on makeup/grooming.
- Even talking to a passenger in your car can be a distraction.
So in a nutshell, you are distracted any time your attention or eyes are not on the road. What's your answer to the question of "are you guilty of distracted driving" now? It can only be "yes", right? Personally, I can check off 4 items on the list above that sometimes take my attention away from driving. I can't imagine anyone not being guilty of some of the distractions above at least occasionally. DMV reports that every day, 9 people are killed as a result of a distracted driver. Wow! I guess all of us should try to do a better job of keeping our eyes and attention on the road instead of all the other things that take our attention away from driving.
The video below really puts distracted driving into perspective. Don't forget to take our quick poll below the video!