Distracted driving is a non-driving activity that puts the focus of driving on the backburner. By the time the focus returns to driving it’s too late. With so much going on it has become easier to get distracted and that’s why this kind of accident is on the rise.
There are three types of distractions: visual, manual and cognitive. Visual distracted driving is when the eyes are not on the road. Manual distracted driving is removing hands from the wheel. Cognitive distracted driving is when the mind is not focused on driving but on something else completely.
The main culprit of distractive driving is the cell phone. The majority of distractive driving done in a survey in 2009 comes from this revolutionary device. Two ways that the cell phone has caused accidents are texting while driving and talking on the phone. Both of these distractions require multitasking on the road and on the cell phone. Even headsets attached to the phone causes a distraction; it forces the mind to concentrate on both driving and listening to the person on the phone.
A close runner-up cause of distractive driving is stress. Stress from work, from children, the family, spouse, or friends stir up anger and driving behind the wheel angry distracts the mind. The focus on the wheel and the road is lost and that anger is only thing on the brain. Because the mind is focused on something else the driving patterns will become more aggressive.
Speaking of multitasking, this is another common way to get in an accident. It doesn’t have to be a cell phone. Reading, grooming, watching a video, listening to music, eating and drinking while driving can distract a person long enough to get into an accident.
In conclusion, being distracted on the road in any way is not worth it.