Over recent years, campaigns to bring awareness to the dangers of distracted driving have grown in scope. Many of the most dangerous forms of the sober driving stem from distraction, and distracted driving behaviors make up a large number of crash statistics.
This includes texting while driving, which is one of the riskiest driving behaviors that a person can engage in general. But how does texting contribute to crashes?
Levels of distraction
SafeWise discusses the way texting potentially contributes to crashes among drivers. First, it is one of the biggest and most thorough distractions that a driver can engage in. Anything that takes up multiple senses will automatically serve as a bigger risk in the grand scheme of things.
For example, drinking a non-alcoholic beverage while driving also serves as a potential distraction. However, while this results in a driver removing a hand from the wheel, it is not the riskiest distracted driving behavior out there.
By comparison, texting takes one’s hands off the wheel, their eyes off the road, and occupies their thoughts as well so they do not focus on the crucial task at hand of driving safely and defensively.
How texting distracts
When texting, a driver’s attention anchors to their phone. This means that any sudden changes to the traffic around them could result in immediate crashes and catastrophes. For example, if a car suddenly stops ahead of them or pulls in front of them, the texting driver will likely not notice until it is too late to stop.
For the reason of this three-pronged distraction, texting serves as a huge threat that awareness groups and law enforcement constantly try to draw attention to, illuminating the true dangers of a seemingly simple act.