A closer look at distracted driving

According to Distraction.gov, drivers take their eyes away from the road for five seconds when they receive or send text messages, on average. On roads across the whole state of New Mexico, distracted driving is a serious threat for everyone who is on the road. Sadly, these collisions frequently result in the loss of life, or a debilitating injury that will follow someone around permanently.

Throughout 2014, distracted driving wrecks left over 3,17 people dead and caused 431,000 injuries. Unfortunately, many of these fatalities and lifelong injuries were preventable and only occurred because of irresponsible behavior. According to research, roughly 600,000 people in the United States are using their cell phone while operating a motor vehicle at any moment of the day. With the widespread prevalence of distracted driving, these types of traffic accidents will keep taking place.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that a past survey showed that 31 percent of Americans between 18 and 64 years old confessed to driving while texting in the previous 30 days. When taking into account those who talked on their cell phone in the past 30 days, 69 percent of people in this group admitted to such behavior. Clearly, cell phone use on the road is far too common.

In addition to cell phone use, there are other distractions that take drivers’ attention away from the road. For example, drivers may cause an accident because they are distracted by other people in the car, the use of a navigation system or the consumption of food, among other reasons.