April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and AAA is reminding drivers how best to avoid distractions while driving.
There are more than 3,000 deaths and nearly 300,000 injured annually nationwide due to a driver becoming distracted according to the National Highway Traffic Administration.
Changing music, programming your GPS, eating, talking with passengers and using cell phones are the most common forms of distractions.
AAA urges drivers to disengage from those distractions by putting the phone away and activating the do not disturb setting, planning your route before driving and pulling over to make a call or text.
And AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Jana Tidwell says passengers can help drivers cut down on distractions.
"Be the eyes and ears for the driver, help with the navigation, point out things on the road that you see that could be trouble could be dangerous, make any phone calls, send any text messages that the driver may need to send, so the driver is focused 100% on the task of driving," said Tidwell.
Passengers are also reminded to speak up if the driver of the vehicle texts or is distracted to keep them focused on the road.
Tidwell notes the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety teamed up with the University of Utah to test visual and cognitive demand created by vehicles' infotainment systems.
Tidwell says those studies show there is what’s called a hangover effect for drivers. Two seconds of distraction doubles crash risk, and it takes 40 seconds to program navigation.
"Taking your eyes off the wheel, it may just be a few seconds, but the cognitive distraction is much longer creating that hangover effect,” said Tidwell. “Your eyes are back on the road, but it's taking you longer for your mind to be focused on driving."
She adds it’s best to program directions prior to driving, or have a passenger do that and other tasks - like answering calls or texts - while you drive.
Drivers are also reminded that Delaware’s distracted driving law bans all drivers from using hand held phones and other devices while driving. The first offense is a $100 fine.
