Distracted Driving Awareness Month

April Is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

What is distracted driving? Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety. These types of distractions include:

• Texting
• Using a cell phone or smartphone
• Eating and drinking
• Talking to passengers
• Grooming
• Reading, including maps
• Using a navigation system
• Watching a video
• Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player

But, because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction.*

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and during the week of April 10-15, law enforcement personnel will be employing strategies both old and new to catch motorists who are texting while driving.  This initiative is part of a campaign created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in their effort to curb distracted driving behaviors nationwide. Law enforcement stresses that, when you text while driving, you take your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road, and your mind off the task of driving.  This activity not only puts your own life in danger, but also the lives of everyone else out on the road with you.

According to the NHTSA, in 2012 in the United States, 3,331 people were killed and 387,000 people were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver.  Remember, “One text or call could wreck it all.”  #justdrive

The National Safety Council has provided some great information for Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

Driving Down Distraction infographic
Provided by The National Safety Council