Distracted driving accounts for nearly 1 in 5 accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Three Types of Distracted Driving Are:
Visual – taking your eyes off the road
Manual – taking your hands off the wheel
Cognitive – taking your mind off what you’re doing

Typical driving distractions include phone use, texting, eating, drinking, grooming, fiddling with a navigation system, changing a music device, watching a video or daydreaming.

Distracted drivers are involved in accidents every 24 seconds, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the United States.

Workers Who Drive Should Follow These Tips:

· Â„„Always wear a seat belt
· Â„„Be aware of local regulations regarding mobile phone use.
· Â„„Don’t engage in any activity that requires you to take your eyes off the road, your mind off driving or your hands off the steering wheel.
· Â„„Do not place or receive mobile phone calls while driving.
· Â„„Pull off the road to place or take a call.
· Â„„Allow a fellow passenger to handle an incoming call, if you can’t pull over.
· Â„„Let an incoming phone call go to voicemail.
· Â„„Never text while driving.

Reality Check: Cell Phone Use While Driving
In 2016, 3,450 people were killed in distracted driving crashes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported.

According to National Safety Council and Distraction.gov statistics: „

· Drivers talking on mobile or hands-free cell phones are 4 times as likely to be involved in a car crash.
· Driving and talking on the phone are cognitive tasks, which forces the brain to switch between the two to process information.
· Drivers on mobile phones can miss seeing up to 50% of their driving environments, including pedestrians and red lights. This is called inattention blindness.
· At any given time during the day, more than 669,000 drivers are using a hand-held cell phone or electronic device.

Never Text While Driving
Drivers who text take their eyes off the road for an average 4.6 seconds. According to Distraction.gov, if the texting motorist was driving 55 miles an hour, that would be like driving blindfolded for the complete length of a football field.

Sources: National Safety Council, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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