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Distracted driving is defined as anything that takes your eyes, hands, or especially your mind away from driving. It's by far the most common contributing factor in police-reported traffic crashes. Activities such as reading can easily lead to road accidents, which is why they're strictly forbidden. Yet two activities have seen their involvement in road accidents jump in recent years: texting and speaking on the phone. That's why law enforcement authorities decided to toughen sanctions on distracted drivers. Here's a great tip on how to mitigate distracted driving.

Facts about distracted driving

In a recent report published on its website, the federal government revealed that 3,328 Americans were killed in 2012 because of distracted driving. Another article from Kat Haselkorn compared drunk driving and distracted driving, and found that while the drunk driving fatality rate has been declining, distracted driving has worsened over the years. This is why most states have passed regulations to ban texting while operating a vehicle. Only 6 states haven't voted such laws.

How to mitigate distracted driving

Distracted driving is posing serious challenges to law enforcement authorizes, which are struggling to contain the problem especially with the increasing usage of smartphones. When measuring the impact of the awareness campaigns that have been launched, one can hardly argue that they've been effective. Maybe authorities should look at this issue in a different way.

As you might know, it takes at least two people to cause distracted driving. Indeed, in trying to respond to a text message that they've just received, the driver will temporarily take their eyes off the road, and eventually hit someone else's car or run off the road. In other words if the driver doesn't get solicited, they won't have any reason to use their phone and thus will focus on their driving.

One thing you can do to effectively reduce distracted driving incidence is by always asking whoever you're texting or calling first whether they're driving. If the person is on the road, tell them that you're going to call once they've arrived at their destination. Doing so will not only give you a peace of mind, but it'll also encourage them to develop safe driving habits.

The impact of distracted driving on insurance premiums is well documented. Now that you've discovered a new way to promote safe driving, start spreading the word to save the lives of your loved ones, and money on annual insurance costs. Contact professionals, such as those from Hamrick Insurance, to see how they can best insure you according to your needs.