Distracted driving is dangerous for many reasons. It significantly impacts your ability to drive. Cell phone use – both talking and texting – remain the most obvious example of distracted driving, but there are many more. Anything that grabs your attention while you are trying to drive can affect your driving in the following ways:
- Takes your hands, eyes and mind off of the task of driving
- Impaired ability to brake in response to a changing light, a stop sign, a stopped vehicle or a hazard in the roadway
- Reduced concentration on what is happening on the road in front of the driver
- Impaired ability to process information related to the driving environment
- Reduced ability to safely operate your vehicle
- Increased tendency to swerve and leave the lane
- Slowed decision-making
- Poor response to roadway emergencies
While driving quickly becomes commonplace in our lives, we naturally develop a sense of familiarity and maybe even complacency when it comes to operating a motor vehicle. But the fact remains that these large, heavy vehicles can be deadly when the operator is careless. Distraction is a type of carelessness.
The following are some of the most common types of distracted driving:
- Texting
- Conversing on a cell phone
- Daydreaming
- Staring out the side window
- Adjusting audio, navigation or other infotainment features
- Eating
- Personal grooming
- Reading
- Interaction with passengers
- Reaching to retrieve something beneath a seat, in the glovebox or in the backseat
These types of activities and others can take your eyes and concentration off the road for long enough to cause a collision. It takes only a few seconds of inattention. The danger tends to increase the faster you are going because at faster speeds, any collision that does occur will cause greater impact and damage.
If you were injured by a distracted driver, you may be able to pursue compensation in a car accident claim handled by experienced attorney Patrick D. Troxler, Esq., in Waldorf, MD. To learn more, or to arrange a free case evaluation, please contact the law firm. You may be owed compensation above and beyond any current settlement offers.
