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Distracted driving takes many forms

Posted on January 11, 2017 in Car & Truck Accidents

In Virginia, 80 percent of car accidents stem from distracted driving. We’re all aware that our actions when driving can affect our safety. We know how children arguing or crying in the back seat can take our focus off the road, and that if we reach to turn the radio up for a favorite song we’ll only have one hand on the wheel and may be looking down for a second or two. Those distractions have almost always been part of the driving experience. So what makes something like texting while driving so dangerous?

When you use your smartphone while driving, you are 23 times more likely to be in an accident. Texting or using a smartphone for any task requires different kinds of attention from us. Basically, there are three kinds of distractions.

(1) Visual: When drivers look away from the traffic ahead to glance at a map, navigation system or phone, they’re not clued in to what is happening in front of them. If traffic comes to a stop, they could be caught unaware. They won’t see a pedestrian crossing or a vehicle pulled over at the side of the road. Any action they take will be late-possibly too late to avoid a crash.