Over a third of Americans completely agree that distracted driving impairs your ability to drive. However, many people also admit to sending off a couple of texts or taking a picture while driving. Even if you’re just sending off one quick little text, you could put yours or someone else’s life in danger.
As a driver, you have a responsibility to yourself and others to drive safely. A study by the Transport Research Laboratory found that texting while driving delays your reaction time by 37 percent. However, drinking to the legal limit only impairs your reaction time by 13 percent.
This means that texting while driving is actually far worse than drinking and driving.
Aside from texting while driving, there’s a few other things that are considered distracted driving. Experts classify driving distractions into manual, cognitive, and visual impairments. Some of these distractions include things like:
- Being lost in thought or feeling emotional
- Using your phone
- Staring at something outside
- Other passengers in the vehicle
- Using other devices such as GSP
- Eating and drinking
- Fiddling with your radio or air conditioning
- Soley using cruise control, or automatic driving features
- Grabbing objects, pets, and children
- Smoking
This means that even if you don’t text while driving, you could still be distracted by a number of things.
Here are a few more reasons why you shouldn’t let yourself get distracted.
1. You could seriously hurt someone
A lot of people don’t get into their vehicle thinking that injuring or killing another person is possible. However, a vehicle is a heavy piece of machinery, and there’s millions of people driving every day.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that over 3,000 were killed in distracted driving crashes in 2017 alone. In the same report, nearly 20,000 fatal crashes involved a distracted driver.
As technology and cellphone usage increases, that number has quickly increased. In 2018, 4,637 of fatal crashes were caused by distracted driving.
Aside from other drivers on the road, any passengers or pedestrians are also at risk. It’s estimated that 550 pedestrians and cyclists are killed in distracted driving crashes.
2. You could seriously hurt yourself
Another harsh reality of driving is that you could seriously impair or kill yourself while driving. Every day, it’s estimated that 9 drivers die in distracted driving accidents. Teenage drivers make 6 out of 9 of those fatalities. In fact, texting while driving now kills more teens than drunk driving or another disease.
It’s important to remind teens that even if they aren’t texting, using any form of social media and having other distractions also contribute to their safety. A recent survey showed that 57 percent drivers admitted to eating or drinking while driving, which can severely affect your driving abilities.
3. You could hurt your pet or child
In a report from American Automobile Association, 31 percent of drivers admit to getting distracted by their dogs in the car. Although the report showed that the majority of people don’t drive with their pet in the car, only 17 percent of drivers who did used a restraint.
Young children also pose a threat to safety. Although it’s many parent’s first instinct to help their children as soon as they need it, doing so while driving puts you and your child’s life at risk. If your child does need your assistance, pull over to help them. As children get older, it’s best to remind them that driving can be dangerous, and it’s best mom or dad keep their eyes on the road.
4. Texting and driving is illegal in 49 states
Every single state aside from Montana has banned texting while driving. As of right now, most states have restrictions on cellphone or handheld device use.
Almost every state with anti-texting laws has restrictions on young and novice drivers using their phones. Depending on where you live, you could face some serious fines for even talking on the phone.
5. You could get your license taken away or face prison time
Similarly to if you get multiple speeding tickets, multiple distracted driving offenses could result in your license taken away. For states like Iowa, fatal crashes involving distracted driving is a felony that could get you up to 10 years in prison.
Although you might think that one text isn’t that big of a deal, one drink over the limit could earn you a DUI. When you begin to understand that distracted driving impairs your driving worse than drinking does, it makes sense that you could face similar consequences.
6. It costs Americans billions of dollars
DUI cost around $44 billion per year for taxpayers in court fees and property damages. Surprisingly, distracted driving damages cost taxpayers $40 billion a year. This means that even if you don’t think the effect on society is as drastic as drunk driving, it does have a similar economic impact.
In fact, distracted driving accidents collectively cost $129 billion a year in property damages alone. This includes any court proceedings, emergency services, healthcare services, employment costs, and loss of productivity.
7. Your insurance will increase
When you sign up for your insurance, you write an agreement stating that you will be a safe driver and won’t get into an accident. If you know anything about insurance, then you know your
premium is calculated by how much of a risk you pose. Despite the general public knowing distracted driving is now the biggest risk you can pose, it’s still the leading cause in accidents.
If you like
saving money on car insurance, then you know that avoiding any kind of traffic violation will reduce your yearly premium. Getting a distracted driving ticket can raise your insurance by an average of 23 percent. Depending on where you live, your insurance could increase by over 60 percent for distracted driving tickets.
Your car insurance provider may also fine you a penalty for distracted driving. These penalties can range from $87 to $762!
Be sure to check with your insurance provider to see how they handle distracted driving violations.
8. Being safe has way more benefits
Texting while driving is highly dangerous. If you’re still unconvinced that texting while driving isn’t that dangerous, in 2017, drivers who were injured in distracted driving crashes had similar numbers to gun deaths. In 2017, there were 39,773 gun deaths in America, whereas around 391,000 drivers were injured in distracted driving crashes that same year.
On the contrary, being a safe driver can actually benefit you. You can save money on collision and accident costs by reducing your risks. If you’ve never had an accident or traffic violation, your insurance provider will reward you with
lower premiums.
Don’t take any chances while driving. Your texts can wait, but there is only one
you that can reply.
