Highways and Public Works

Distracted Driving

What is Distracted Driving?

Distraction is anything that takes your focus off the task of driving, and impairs your ability to react quickly:

  • Eating, drinking, applying make-up, etc.
  • Becoming focused things or events outside the vehicle
  • Children, pets, and/or other passengers
  • Loud music

 

Driving requires 100% of your attention.

Your brain doesn’t really multitask. When you pay attention to other things, you stop seeing what is happening on the road. When you do this you are instantly more likely to end up in a collision.

 

Distraction impairs...

A recent naturalistic study by Virginia Tech shows that:

  • If you reach for an object while driving, you are 9 times more likely to crash.
  • If you are looking at things outside the car that are not related to driving, you are 3.7 times more likely to crash.
  • If you are applying make-up while driving, you are 3 times more likely to crash.