DOT urges everyone: Take the pledge to stop distracted driving March 10, 2016 Distraction is anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events. To put it another way, a distraction is anything that takes your eyes off the road (visual distraction), your mind off the road (cognitive distraction), or your hands off the wheel (manual distraction). When you think about tasks that can be a driving distraction, they often fit into more than one category: eating is visual and manual, whereas using a navigation system is all three. The fight to end distracted driving starts with you. Make the commitment to drive phone-free. Did you know? • Drivers who use hand held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves; • Driving while on a cell phone reduces the brain’s ability to drive by 37 percent. • Text messaging, browsing, and dialing results in the longest duration of a driver taking their eyes-off-road, increases risks by two times and the driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 23.3 seconds total. • In 2015, 159 people were killed and about 27,230 people were injured in vehicle crashes in North Carolina involving distracted drivers. Take a pledge • Protect lives by never texting or talking on the phone while driving. • Be a good passenger and speak out if the driver in your car is distracted.
DOT urges everyone: Take the pledge to stop distracted driving March 10, 2016 Distraction is anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events. To put it another way, a distraction is anything that takes your eyes off the road (visual distraction), your mind off the road (cognitive distraction), or your hands off the wheel (manual distraction). When you think about tasks that can be a driving distraction, they often fit into more than one category: eating is visual and manual, whereas using a navigation system is all three. The fight to end distracted driving starts with you. Make the commitment to drive phone-free. Did you know? • Drivers who use hand held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves; • Driving while on a cell phone reduces the brain’s ability to drive by 37 percent. • Text messaging, browsing, and dialing results in the longest duration of a driver taking their eyes-off-road, increases risks by two times and the driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 23.3 seconds total. • In 2015, 159 people were killed and about 27,230 people were injured in vehicle crashes in North Carolina involving distracted drivers. Take a pledge • Protect lives by never texting or talking on the phone while driving. • Be a good passenger and speak out if the driver in your car is distracted.
