Anyone who’s driven long distances knows a lot can happen on the road. Inattentive drivers, items falling from vehicles, and errant wildlife among other factors can cause major problems. Strict attention to your surroundings is required for everyone on the road to make it home safe. Unfortunately, this has become increasingly difficult and rare.
Although our safety depends on it, we are becoming more prone to distractions while on the road. This can come in the form of someone else not paying attention and causing an accident, or us becoming distracted ourselves and causing an accident on our own.
The emergence of mobile technology is a major hurdle but it isn’t the only dangerous factor in driving. M&W Transport has put together an outline of how and why you should avoid distractions while driving.
Cell Phones
It’s no surprise that cell phones have become a major problem for roadway safety. We have problems staying away from our screens at every other point of the day, and it’s no different while we’re driving. Whether it’s texting, calling, or looking at social media, cell phone usage has become a major problem.
Many states have started outlawing cell phone use by drivers. Tennessee, home of M&W Transportation, has recently enacted the Hands Free Law. These laws are aimed at reducing the staggering amount of accidents that are due to drivers’ attention being diverted from the road.
You can still use your cell phone in the case of an emergency in Tennessee or if it is not being held in the driver’s hand. Otherwise, it’s illegal for the driver to touch their phone while they are operating a vehicle.
M&W Transportation has many great career options for safe and experienced truck drivers in the Nashville, TN area. Visit us today to learn more!
Road Rage
Drivers are frequently displeased with how others act on the roads. This is an inherent part of driving and won’t be changing soon, if ever. This displeasure frequently devolves into what we know as “road rage.”
Road rage often causes a driver to focus on the actions of an individual in a different vehicle. This could be due to a displeasure with lane changes, speed, or basically any other aspect of driving that the rager deems inappropriate.
The attention that should be focused on the road and surrounding traffic is diverted to this other vehicle. This can lead to accidents. It’s always best practice to focus on what is in front of you and to ignore unpalatable actions by other drivers. You’re never going to improve their driving skills by yelling at them.
Discussions
Conversations either conducted by phone or with a passenger in the vehicle can become distracting. We often want to avoid riding down the road in silence so it’s natural to strike up a conversation with someone else. This is fine as long as the driver continues to pay close attention to the road and traffic around them.
It’s human nature to want to make eye contact with the person you are speaking with. This is a main tenet of human interaction. However, this can be dangerous when driving. Taking your eyes off the road for even a few seconds can drastically increase the chances of an accident.
Carrying on a conversation is not a big deal if the driver remains conscious of the road and pays close attention to it. But they should always remember that safe driving is the main task at hand.
Food
We often eat food as we drive to save some time. This is especially true for truck drivers. However, these meals can become great distractions from the road and other vehicles around us.
It might not seem like a big deal to snack your way through a bag of chips as you move toward your destination, but anything that takes our eyes off the road can be a factor in an accident. You don’t want to add another few seconds between noticing an immediate danger and being able to actively avoid it.
Food creates other needs that can take our minds off the road. Cleaning our hands, wiping our mouths, and taking a drink to wash the food down can all be factors that take our eyes off the road at the exact moment we need to be paying attention.
Spotting an Inattentive Driver
Along with being conscious of our own attention, we need to be aware of other distracted drivers on the road. They can be a great danger. Spotting a distracted driver is often similar to spotting a drunk driver.
The results are often the same—swerving between lanes, inconsistent speed, slow or no reaction to spotlights and stop signs.
Do your best to put space between yourself and these vehicles. You never know what they might accidentally do.
Are you a safe driver looking for a great career? Visit M&W Transportation to learn about our driving opportunities today!