Drunk driving is an epidemic, but it’s not the only major problem on Michigan roads. Distracted driving has become just as pervasive – and deadly. Though some drivers have been lucky and avoided close calls and fatal car crashes, most do not. Unfortunately, knowing that distracted driving leads to serious auto accidents is not enough to get all people to pay attention to the important job of driving cautiously and with focused intent.

You’re Not a Savvy Driver, You’re a Reckless One

If you use your mobile phone regularly when you’re behind the wheel but have never gotten into an auto accident, you’re not a talented driver, you’re just an extremely lucky one.

Physically and mentally, you cannot fully concentrate on the task at hand – operating a motor vehicle – when your attention is also being pulled in the direction of your phone. A study from the U.S. National Library of Medicine found that, when it comes to driving, if you add just one more thing for a person to do the amount of brain power that goes toward driving decreases by 37 percent.

The most common excuses distracted drivers use include:

• I only look away for a few seconds at a time.
• I’ve never been in an accident.
• I’m a great multitasker.
• I am an excellent driver.
• Nothing bad will happen.

Just because these statements may be true, it takes only a moment to prove them false.

You Can Prevent Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is 100% preventable. When you are in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, that’s all you should be doing – driving. You don’t fiddle with the controls on the dashboard or check your text messages or manage the kids in the backseat. If any of these matters demand your attention, you pull over to deal with them, you don’t attempt to multitask when you’re operating a motor vehicle.

People like to blame teens as having the most blatant disregard for driving rules and for being super-attached to their phones, but adults are just as much to blame. It’s the job of adults to model good driving behavior for their kids. If you use your phone while you’re driving, your kids will think it’s fine to do so too. Is there anything – anything at all – that is more important on your phone than driving yourself and your family safely to your destination?

Change Your Conditioning

We have all been conditioned to believe that we can multitask successfully. We use multiple apps at one time. We’re on our phones and on our computer at the same time. We exercise and use our phone at the same time. The list goes on and on. Why not think that you can drive and do other things at the same time, like email, take photos, drive with your knees, eat, program a GPS, follow a navigation app?

If you have done any of these things and still arrived at your destination unscathed and without harming any other drivers or pedestrians in the process, it’s sheer luck that you were not involved in a car crash.

Stay safe on the roads. Avoid distractions. And if you are involved in an auto accident with a distracted driver, contact Femminineo Attorneys in Mt. Clemens, MI, to discuss your case.