Do We Need Strict Fines for Distracted Driving

Distracted driving has become more of a common thread on the road than ever before. You might think it would be less with our technological advancements.

Think about your most recent rides to the store to pick up your kids or to work. How much of that time was focused strictly on the job of driving your car? Ever since the widespread use of power steering, drivers have become more distracted than ever. Now, with smartphones, connected technology, and electronic nannies were becoming more relaxed and less focused on the road ahead.

What are some common activities that are considered distracted driving?

Being distracted while behind the wheel isn’t just about using your cell phone or searching for the menus on the infotainment screen. This can be the result of some basic things we take for granted and have been doing for many years.
Here are a few of the activities you should avoid while driving:

Talking on the phone

You could do everything right by using the hands-free features of your car and still become distracted while driving. If you’re talking on the phone, where do you think your attention is? It’s on the conversation and not entirely on the active driving. This is probably the least serious form of distracted driving. Some drivers hold their phones to their ears and talk, which is truly a distracted activity.

Texting while driving

We all know this is a big problem. Texting while driving is quickly becoming one of the leading causes of traffic fatalities. There’s no argument that the drive isn’t distracted; if they’re looking at their phone, the attention is certainly not on the road. While driving at 55 mph, your car travels 80 feet per second. A five-second text is 400 feet which is more than the length of a football field while you’re distracted.

Keep your children and pets secure while driving

More people take their pets with them everywhere they go than ever before. If you don’t secure your pet in the rear with a harness and a belt buckled into a seatbelt, or a divider for the cargo area, they can easily distract you. Your pet doesn’t understand that you’re driving and only wants your attention.

Similarly, we’ve all seen parents reach back to soothe a child or to correct bad behavior. If that parent is the driver, they are now driving while distracted. If you must correct your child, pull off to the side of the road and handle the situation in a safe manner.

Eating and drinking is a common distraction

Can you imagine the number of drivers that visit a drive-thru for breakfast on the way to work? These people don’t normally wait until they get to work to eat their food; they do it in the car while driving. Eating and drinking are the most common forms of distracted driving and shouldn’t be allowed. Can you imagine getting into a car accident because you had to drink your morning coffee while behind the wheel? Give yourself a little more time and sit down for your meal.

Rubbernecking during an accident

Thankfully, when an accident occurs, most people will drive a bit slower past the accident to see what’s happened. This slower driving doesn’t mean you won’t end up in an accident next to the one that already occurred. If you don’t want to be the next car in the crash, stop rubbernecking.

Adjusting car controls is a distracting activity

It would be nearly impossible to legislate adjusting the controls in your car out of your driving habits. Thankfully, music controls are typically found on the steering wheel in modern vehicles. Still, adjusting the climate settings, changing the audio settings, or switching menus on the screen can be a distracted activity and create a problem on the road.

Talking with passengers makes the list

Having other passengers in the car to talk to is a pleasure, especially on long road trips. That said, if you get too deep in the conversation and take your mind and focus off the road, this is a distracting activity. It might not reach the level of distracted driving, but it can be in some cases.

Can lawmakers legislate distracted driving out of our lives? Some activities, such as texting and driving, are already illegal, but it would be nearly impossible to legislate some of the other forms of distraction from your driving habits. The best you can do is limit the number of distractions faced during any ride.