These days, it is common knowledge that distracted driving behaviors take a huge safety toll on everyone who drives. Some of the most well-known distracted driving risks include drowsy driving and texting while driving.
In particular, texting while driving has gone under a lot of scrutinies recently as experts attempt to discover exactly what about it makes it such a high-risk activity.
Dangers of distractions
SafeWise also examines dangers inherent in texting while driving, which may relate to the way texting-related distractions manifest. When driving, in order to maintain optimum safety, it is important to do three things. Drivers should keep their hands on the wheel, their eyes on the road and their mind on driving.
Many distractions will hit one or two of these categories. For example, a driver may look to their dashboard while changing the radio station, which causes physical and visual distractions. Or a driver may look frequently at their GPS system when trying to find a new location, thinking constantly about how to get there. The more ways that an act distracts a person, the more risky the distraction.
The triple threat
Texting while driving serves as one of the distraction examples in which all of the driver’s senses get impacted by the action in question. When texting, many drivers hold the phone in their hands and look at the screen. Of course, texters will focus on the conversation instead of the road.
This creates a triple-pronged threat that cannot get fully stamped out even with the advent of hands-free devices and voice command features. To this day, texting while driving remains one of the biggest potential risks that drivers can face.
