Driving requires focus and attention. You must remember this whenever you are operating a motor vehicle. You don’t want to cause injury to yourself or others because you were distracted while driving.
The best way to avoid being involved in a distracted driving accident resulting from your own negligence is to simply exercise self-discipline. You need to make the conscious choice to pay attention to the road instead of checking your phone or engaging in any other distracting activities when you’re at the wheel.
However, you may want to take additional steps to ensure you never make the mistake of allowing your focus to drift away from your surroundings when operating a motor vehicle. If so, you can:
Ideally, you should turn off your phone and other such devices when driving. In the digital age, though, doing so may not seem to be a practical option.
Luckily, there are several apps the American Safety Council recommends that can prevent you from texting or checking email when driving. Some of these apps begin working as soon as you start your engine. They can send automatic replies to anyone who texts or emails you, letting them know you are currently unavailable because you are driving. Some can even “read” texts and emails to you. This will prevent you from feeling tempted to check your phone if you receive an alert.
That said, most apps of this sort work by silencing alerts and notifications when you’re on the road. The best way to avoid feeling the impulse to check your phone is to ensure you will not be notified about texts, emails, or other such correspondence until you are safely parked.
You might be the type of person who needs to listen to music or a podcast when driving. This is understandable. However, trying to find the perfect song on the radio or constantly changing tracks on your phone’s music or podcast apps can prevent you from focusing on the road.
Make a playlist in advance if you know you’re going to be driving for a considerable amount of time. This ensures you won’t feel the need to constantly change radio stations or look at your phone during your trip.
Eating and consuming beverages while driving is something many people do virtually every single day. For example, plenty of commuters spend their mornings driving and sipping on coffee without a second thought.
Try to avoid making this mistake. Eating and drinking while on the road can distract you to a greater degree than you realize. Along with momentarily taking your attention away from the road when you reach to grab them, food and beverages can spill or get caught in your throat if you hit unexpected bumps or potholes. Spilling just a little bit of hot coffee on yourself can distract you enough to result in an accident.
Still, even if you take all necessary steps to avoid causing distracted driving accidents, you can’t control the choices others make when driving. If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a distracted motorist, you deserve to be compensated for your medical bills, lost wages, and other such losses.
A Santa Barbara car accident attorney at the Law Office of John B. Richards can help you recover the compensation for which you may be eligible. Learn more by contacting us online or calling us at 805-683-2736 to schedule your free consultation.