Distracted Driving Kills

You don’t need to look far to find evidence that distracted driving leads to increased rashes. Anyone who has successfully completed an online traffic school knows just how dangerous it is to lose focus while you are behind the wheel. Anything that distracts you from the effort of driving; takes your eyes or attention off the road in front of you can be fatal.

Defensive driving courses have been saying it for years: Keep your eyes on the road. That means your eyes cannot be staring at a tiny text screen, watching you scroll through status updates on your smart phone, or even staring at the GPS device that will likely just ‘tell’ you where to turn. If they do, if your eyes leave the road for even a second, that’s all it takes for the driver in front of you to brake suddenly, a deer to cross your path or a pedestrian to step off the sidewalk in the path of your vehicle. If you don’t see them, you will hit them.

When it comes to what you learn at traffic school online the first rule is to keep your eyes on the road. That was probably the first thing whoever taught you how to drive said to you while you weaving your way down some country road or through an empty parking lot. A car is a 4,000 pound missile and you are taking aim every time you step on the accelerator and get behind the wheel. If you don’t pay attention to what you are doing you risk your life, the life of whoever is riding with you and the life of everyone who passes you on the road.

Be a safe driver, be a careful driver, be an attentive driver and be a defensive driver. Put down the smartphone when you get behind the wheel. Turn it off if you have to, but definitely don’t try to text while you drive. The life you save might be your own.

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net