Today,
driver education is extremely important to teen drivers. Distracted driving is unsafe driving, period. The question to teen drivers is “What so important that you have to risk your life behind the wheel?” Also, when referring to texting and tweeting, another question comes to mind: “What’s the hurry”?
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website, there are three types of distracted driving. While a visual distraction may cause you to remove your eyes off of the road, a manual distraction can cause you to remove your hands from the steering wheel. The third type, a cognitive distraction, may cause you to take your mind off of what you are actively doing (driving a car).
In today’s technological explosion and the increased use of cell phones along with texting, there is more opportunity for distracted driving than ever before. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s website confirms that texting is the most unsafe of all three types of distracted driving, and is dangerous since it involves all three of the above mentioned distractions (visual, manual and cognitive). According to the distraction.gov website, it has been proven that drivers who use a hand-held device while driving are four times as likely to become involved in a collision involving injuries. Yes that’s right. It is not twice or three times as likely, but four times! All drivers, including teens, must be knowledgeable in all aspects of drivers ed.
Although every driver at one time or another has had a distraction behind the wheel such as talking to a passenger, eating food or changing the radio station, the statistics against distracted driving are quite alarming. So, the question again is “what’s the hurry”? If the parents of teenagers cannot seem to resist texting while driving, teen drivers may pick up the same behavior. Then, if an accident occurs, taking drivers ed may be necessary to avoid higher insurance rates and a mark on your driving record.
Multi-tasking is great, unless you are texting and tweeting while operating a motor vehicle. While teen drivers are likely to fall into this pattern, adult distracted driving is just as problematic. Distracted driving can affect both young and old and driver education is essential. The dangers are apparent, and one organization that is educating motorists on just how dangerous distracted driving can be is the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM). However, for those times when a true emergency arises, then it is advisable to pull over and fully stop the car before texting. Period.