Daytona Beach, FL - 'Distracted Driving Awareness Month' is normally in April but just like a lot of other things in 2020 due to COVID-19, it was postponed and moved. The National Safety Council says on a typical day, more than 700 people are injured in distracted driving crashes across the country.
AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins says anything that takes your eyes off the road and your attention off the road can be a distraction and potentially lead to a crash. "There are really three top risky distractions. Cell phone use, in-vehicle technology, and just other passengers in the vehicle. They can talk to you if your teens may be rough house in the car. Maybe even your kids. If you're handing them something, it could be a distraction."
Jenkins said that almost 3,000 people are killed out of 400,000 crashes every single year. He says at AAA, they are comparing driving distracted to driving impaired. "We're calling it 'intexticated.' So you certainly don't want to drive intoxicated and you don't want to be driving 'intexticated' or sending a text while you're behind the wheel. Because that takes your mind and your eyes off the road and the results can be exactly the same."
In Florida, the latest numbers show 213 documented distracted driving crashes resulting in 231 deaths. Jenkins says there are actually more deaths than there are crashes. It gives you a sense of how dangerous this (distracted driving) can be. People can double their risk of an accident by looking away from the road for just two seconds. Jenkins said just five seconds of reading an email or a text is like driving across a football field blindfolded.
You can find more information about distracted driving and other issues on the National Safety Council website.
