38,000 people die every year from car accidents.
And 3,500 of these deaths are a result of distracted driving.
It’s a grim statistic, especially when many of them could have been avoided in the first place.
In this blog post, we’re going to discuss manual distractions, and why you need to get serious about them. One day, it could be a matter of life and death.
Read on to learn more about them and how you can avoid them.
What Are Manual Distractions?
Manual distractions are anything that not only takes your attention off of the road but also makes you reach for something else.
As you can see, this is a broad category, and it covers things like reaching for a drink, texting, eating, putting on make-up, or fooling with the music in your car.
Any and all of these things can force you to take your hands off of the wheel, which can then, in turn, lead to distracted driving.
And, if you do any of these things at an inopportune time, it could mean risking the life of yourself and possibly others.
An accident such as this may force you to call on the help of lawyers, like those at Preszler Law in order to make a claim after an accident.
Why Do We Allow Ourselves to Become Distracted?
There are many reasons, but often it is just because life is distracting in itself. Life doesn’t stop while we’re on the road.
Our minds are constantly racing, and we’re always thinking about what we need to do tomorrow, in the next hour or the next 20 minutes.
We get too hot in the car and turn on the AC. We don’t like the song we’re listening to and change it.
We make sure we look okay before we make the last turn into work.
Sometimes we’re late, and we’re rushing to get somewhere.
Sometimes we’re dealing with crises, and our mind is elsewhere.
Sometimes we’re excited and need to tell all of our friends some exciting news.
Or, perhaps we’ve turned around in the car to tell your kids to stop hitting one another.
Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we’ve all done these things. It’s
We often become distracted at stoplights, or when we think the road isn’t busy.
But in reality, things can change in an instant on the road, and we want to be sure we’re ready for it.
Manual distractions and driving don’t mix, and they can be as deadly as driving drunk.
When we drive, our entire lives can change in an instant, and it is important to remember this fact.
How Dangerous Are Manual Distractions?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, taking those 5 seconds to send a text while you’re driving at 55 miles per hour is equivalent to driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.
Would you ever do something like that knowingly? Probably not, which is why it is important to respect that distracted driving can, and often is, deadly.
Or, say you take your hand off the wheel in order to change the song or podcast or audiobook you’re listening to.
By doing that, you reduce your reaction time significantly.
If a child or large animal runs into the road during that time, you have given yourself less of a chance to react.
As such, your car may crash into the animal or child, and the results could be deadly for one or both of you.
In that same scenario, a car could make a turn in front of you, or come out from a corner you didn’t see.
Whether they were in the wrong or not when it comes to traffic laws, the consequences are often catastrophic.
Veering Into Oncoming Traffic
Taking your hands off the wheel doesn’t always mean you’ll crash into something oncoming.
You can always become distracted and veer into the lane next to you.
If you’re lucky, this isn’t a big deal, but if you’re on the freeway, this could mean getting clipped at 55 miles per hour or faster.
We don’t have to tell you that that is extremely dangerous for yourself and all of the cars driving around you.
What You Can Do to Minimize Manual Distractions
Being aware of manual distractions is one of the big ways you can stop them from happening in the first place.
Although it isn’t always easy, or practical when you’re dealing with all life throws at you, you should try and be as prepared as possible.
Make sure you’ve finished getting ready before you leave the house, and don’t need to touch up your make-up at a stoplight.
Try and set your music on a podcast or album you won’t need to change.
If you need to eat, stop and do so instead of trying to wolf it down on the road.
Of course, life doesn’t always work the way we plan, and sometimes we do need to do things like making sure our kids are okay in the back or grab our coffee from the cupholder.
The key is to do things like this only when your car as at a complete stop, not while you’re on the freeway or driving at any speed.
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security if you’re driving on a road that doesn’t have a lot of cars on it or you’re not going very fast: things can change at any minute.
If you enjoyed this article, feel free to browse the rest of my thoughts on things to see what I have to say about a wide variety of topics.