It seems as if every day, you hear about car accidents causing significant harm or death to unsuspecting people in the Greensboro area. Despite knowing how dangerous it is to drive with distractions, many motorists give in to the temptation.
Not all drivers travel the roads while purposely distracted. Any activity that prevents motorists from focusing on the task of operating their vehicles is a distraction. Here is a brief look at how distractions can lead to serious car accident injuries and death.
What are distractions?
Driving distractions fall into three primary criteria: cognitive, manual and visual. Manual distractions involve activities that prevent the use of hands and other physical movements that are essential to safe vehicle operations. Cognitive distractions are those that interfere with the ability to focus on driving. Visual distractions prevent drivers from seeing and focusing on the road. Most motor vehicle collisions involve one or more type of distractions. For example, eating requires the use of eyes and hands, texting while driving requires the use of eyes, hands and cognitive functions.
Distractions prevent drivers from exercising sound judgement and driving behaviors. The mere seconds to moments some distractions take is enough for them to miss vital clues and warning signs of imminent danger.
How do distractions impact collisions?
Usually, car crashes are the result of multiple factors; driver error, poor road conditions, etc. are just a few of the many issues that when combined with distractions lead to catastrophic events, such as extensive property damage, multiple bone fractures, burn injuries, lacerations and even death in some cases. The likelihood of death or long-term injuries is much higher when there are more distractions present.
Staying focused on the road is not always easy. However, taking extra precautions to avoid distractions while behind the wheel can mean the difference between injury, life or death in motor vehicle collisions.
