April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, but your life and auto insurance agent will tell you that this awareness should be a daily event. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 3,000 lives are lost each year to distracted driving. The CDC defines distracted driving as anything that takes your attention away from driving, whether it is visual, manual, or cognitive.
Taking the daily task of driving for granted is one of the most dangerous and expensive things an individual can do. Following are some best practices that both experienced and novice drivers should turn into habits during this awareness month. By always committing to attentive driving, we can all do our part to make the roads safer and bring down insurance premiums.
Avoid Visual Distractions While Driving
Visual distractions while driving take your eyes off the road. In the few seconds you focus your eyes on something else, you can lose control of the car, miss an obstruction, or lose sight of driving conditions. Would you drive 50MPH on Route 309 near Hatfield or Colmar for 10 seconds with your eyes closed? In reality, looking at your phone, your GPS, your kids in the back seat, or some scene off to the side is just like doing that.
Experienced Drivers: Never believe that you can accurately make sure it is safe to look away from the road for a moment. Traffic can change really fast, and you need to be watching to apply the brakes in time, avoid debris or a pothole, or protect yourself from another driver.
Novice Drivers: Put the phone away, review your GPS route before you start driving, and remember that nothing is as important as paying attention to your primary task of driving.
Avoid Manual Distractions While Driving
Manual distractions take your hands off the steering wheel. This is something we should never do, except to shift gears or adjust the wipers and headlights. The reaction time it takes to notice the car is moving in a new direction and get your hands back on the wheel to correct it is far too long in most cases. Potholes, curves, changing traffic lights, and other cars come up quickly, and your hands have to be in control of the car already when they do.
Experienced Drivers: Never assume you’re a good enough driver to remain in control of the car with a loose grip, one-handed, or while multi-tasking. You need to feel the steering wheel to react with the steering wheel, and everything else you’re doing with your hands can wait.
Novice Drivers: Situate yourself before you turn on the car. Make sure that you won’t need to reach for something in your bag on the passenger’s seat or adjust your GPS. If something falls in the car, leave it there! If something falls under your own feet, pull over to retrieve it. Always keep both hands on the wheel while the car is moving.
Avoid Cognitive Distractions While Driving
Cognitive distractions while driving are far more common than most people realize. Have you ever realized that you can’t remember anything from the last 5 minutes, and you just hope all the traffic lights you crossed were green? You were cognitively distracted. When we let our mind wander too far from the task of driving, we are less attentive to road conditions and will have a slower reaction time. Remain focused so that you can always handle a surprise without losing control of the car.
Experienced Drivers: Avoid the auto pilot rut. Change your daily commute from time to time, read street names out loud, and verbalize traffic conditions to keep your attention on the road.
Novice Drivers: Remember that your number one priority is driving. Don’t use hands-free tools to interact with your phone, and always review your GPS route before you start your trip so that you can anticipate what to look for on your route.
It Pays to Drive Safely
Possibly the most dangerous type of distracted driving is actually aggressive driving. When someone drives aggressively, their focus is entirely on what they want or need in that moment. Whether they are worried about getting somewhere on time, angry at another driver, or impatient, the distraction makes them lose sight of everyone else’s right to get where they are going safely. This kind of driving causes the most accidents, and it will eventually price a reckless individual out of insurance coverage.
Drivers who avoid distractions and follow the law are less likely to get into accidents. Over time, this will reduce auto insurance rates. Teen drivers who complete a safe driving course are eligible for lower rates on their parents’ policy, and they will come out of the gate as naturally more conscientious drivers. You never know, your teen may remind you of a thing or two after their lessons!
If you are getting ready to add a new driver to your policy, or you are a young adult moving off your parents’ policy, contact us to learn more about the right auto insurance for your needs. At Smyrl Insurance, we educate, nurture, and empower drivers through insurance to make sure they have the right coverage for their budget and driving habits. Not all auto policies are the same, so it is important to know exactly what your coverage includes in case you ever need to use it. We serve clients for auto, life, home, and business insurance in Hatfield, Lansdale, Souderton, Harleysville, and throughout Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
