April is Distracted Driving Awareness month!
Drivers today are more distracted than ever. Driving is a visual task and any non driving related activities that draw the driver’s attention away from the road should be avoided. Coupled with inexperience and lack of driving skills, any type of distractions while driving can be especially deadly for teen drivers.
Check out some of these crazy statistics from a study The Zebra conducted:
- 37.1% of respondents completely agree that distractions on your mobile device impair your ability to drive safely, yet 28.6% of all respondents admitted to texting and driving as their number one distracted driving behavior, over video-chatting, engaging with work emails, and taking photos or videos.
- 56.7% of all respondents reported that they eat or drink while driving.
- 8.9% of respondents aged 25 to 34 said they felt a high degree of pressure to respond to a text message as soon as it came in, and 7.3% of that same age group also felt a high degree of pressure to respond to work-related messages/emails while driving.
- Of those respondents who completely agree that texting and driving are equally as dangerous as drinking and driving, 39.9% said they have engaged with drinking alcohol while driving.
This isn’t just a teen driver problem, it’s an everyone problem! A parents/guardians: remember, YOU set the example for your student. If they see you driving distracted, then the chances of your student driving distracted skyrocket. This month let’s all work together and practice mindfulness and recognize when we’re being or tempted to be distracted, so we can help each other make Michigan roads a safer place.
