It may seem relatively simple to avoid driving distractions. Keep your phone in your pocket. Use a seatbelt harness for your pets. Drive by yourself, rather than with passengers.
All of these things can help, naturally, but there’s still a big issue you have to consider: A lot of distractions are built right into your car. Are these still going to put you at risk?
Examples of in-car distractions
To understand how these distractions take place and how you can avoid them, here are a few important examples of how modern devices tend to lead to driver distraction:
- Programming a destination into the GPS takes your hands off of the wheel and your eyes off of the road.
- Your radio can become a distraction when you’re searching for a new station or even when you’re simply listening to music in the car.
- Adjusting your mirrors can distract you from the road ahead, even as you try to better see the road behind the car.
- Adjusting your seat or seat belt may make driving easier or safer, but both cause you to focus on something other than driving the car.
So, what should you do? You can’t avoid having to make some of these adjustments or use these in-car systems, so the best way to do it safely is to do it in advance. Take a moment in your driveway to get everything set up for the drive, and only pull onto the road when you’re ready.
What if you get injured by a distracted driver?
If another driver gets distracted and hits your car, you absolutely need to know what rights you have to financial compensation. It’s often easier to get a fair shake from the insurance companies involved with the help of an experienced attorney.
