As you travel, it may seem normal to pull out your phone and send a text while on the road. Although you may assume that an empty road is a great place to do this, it can cause safety issues for you and other drivers.
Learning about how your mind works while driving and how distractions can influence a crash is important for anyone wondering about texting.
Eyes and ears stay unfocused
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted drivers may not realize how quickly an accident can happen. When going the speed limit of 55 miles per hour or more, it can only take five seconds of looking down or away from in front of you to travel almost a football field’s length of road.
Even when you are reading your phone at a red light, you may miss an approaching vehicle or a hazard from the traffic around you. If your eyes and ears are mostly paying attention to whatever is within the car, there is a smaller chance you will notice dangerous situations outside on the road.
Minds can not multitask well
When your mind is trying to focus on two areas at once, it does that by rapidly changing between the two. This multitasking means that you cannot truly pay full attention to both your phone and your driving at once.
By texting at all while driving, you put yourself and others around you at risk. Taking notice of the ways that texting can influence your reaction time and how you drive is important.
