Kiernan Hopkins
You maybe surprised to hear or in this case read in this article that in the year 2011 the number of automobile accidents involving distracted driving, including texting while driving, more then doubled the number of drunk driving accidents.
So why is there so much more attention and support given to trying to put an end to drunk driving over distracted driving? Good Question…
While teenagers are the majority age group of individuals who take part in distracted driving, it is becoming more and more prevalent in all other age groups as well. This dangerous behavior is becoming more and more common. And now law enforcement view it as a secondary offense. Officials state that distracted driving affects anyone behind the wheel of an automobile, not just the negligent individual who is driving while distracted.
“There are so many other things that distract our driving anyway,” said KPD’s Officer Boyd Weller. “Just adding one more of texting and driving, using your cell phone, or any type of mobile device just adds to it, the dangers of driving.”
“We multi–task so much. None of us can focus on just one task at hand. We’re not only driving down the road but we’re calling our daycare to say we’re on the way, we’re sending text messages to our spouse saying what do you want for dinner,”said UNK Safety Center’s Cynthia Houlden. “We’re thinking about what do we need to do tonight or what’s going on with our day, we’ve got so much going on it just distracts us.”
Officials urge drivers to either shut off or hide phones away while driving, or safely pull over and stop if you do need to check your phone.
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