Best Ways to Avoid Distracted Driving
When you hear the term “distracted driving,” what do you imagine? Most likely a driver with one hand on the wheel, the other holding their phone, eyes dividing their time between the road and the message they’re trying to send. But while texting (or Tweeting or updating Facebook) while behind the wheel is dangerous, not all driving distractions come from our mobile devices.
6 Ways to Avoid Distracted Driving
In the interest of promoting good driving — it’s what we do, after all, as a service offering driving lessons in Phoenix, AZ — we thought we’d share a few ways you can avoid distracted driving.
1 – Eating and Driving
While the invention of the drive-through has made mealtime convenient for busy people, eating behind the wheel puts you and other drivers at risk.
According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, people who eat or drink while driving are 80 percent more likely to get into an accident. If you decide you have no choice but to eat while in the car, try to aim for a smaller snack than trying to eat an entire hamburger out on the road.
2 – Grooming and Driving
This might sound obvious…until you think back to all the times you’ve seen someone using their rearview mirror to apply lipstick or make sure their electric razor isn’t missing any spot. Activities like these are best done at home, or at the bathroom when you get to work, just anywhere but in the car as you will learn from our Driving Lessons in Phoenix
3 – Messing With Your GPS While Driving
Another obvious distracted driving method is programming a vehicle’s GPS unit. This requires the same sort of manual and visual attention as a cellphone. If you know ahead of time that you’ll need the GPS’s help to get to where you’re going, try programming the address into the system before you depart than trying to punch in directions while you’re driving.
4 – Avoid Fiddling With Your Mirrors
This is crucial for people who share their car with a significant other or someone in their family. If you’re not the only person using your car, make sure you’ve adjusted the mirrors to a position that works for you every time you drive the car after someone else. Something we teach and stress in our driving lessons in Phoenix, AZ.
5 – Loose Items
You’re driving home from the grocery store. You round a turn, and a few oranges roll out of their bag and onto the floor. You find yourself tempted to root around in the back seat, trying to retrieve them.
Resist this temptation, or better still, avoid it altogether by putting loose items in the trunk before you get on the road.
6 – Where is Your Phone?
Finally, with distracted driving, there’s your phone. If you can’t shake the habit of glancing at your phone while you’re driving, consider downloading an app like Drive Mode, which automatically puts your phone on speaker, or LiveSaver which blocks calls and texts while you’re driving.
Ways to Avoid Distracted Driving: Driving Lessons in Phoenix, AZ
The idea of someone fishing around in their back seat or putting on make-up while driving is the type of thing that gets played for laughs on TV.
But at the Legacy Driving Academy, we take safe driving seriously, working to turn any student who enrolls in our Phoenix, AZ driving lessons into a fit and functional driver. Learning ways to avoid distracted driving is an important aspect of that.
Whether you’re a teenager who has reached learner permit age or someone who has relied on public transit until now, we make learning to drive safe and simple thanks to our experienced, dedicated teachers. We also service surrounding areas such as Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Ahwatukee.
Contact us today to learn more about our pricing and plans.
