Distracted Driving: Three Risks of Using Cell Phones While Driving

There has been much focus lately on distracted driving; especially in our town of Mount Pleasant, where the town counsel recently voted to ban texting while driving. Studies show that in 2010, approximately 21% of auto crashes involved people using cell phones. In addition, cell phone use while walking is a major cause of injuries. Pedestrians crash into inanimate objects, fall into holes, or walk into auto traffic.

There are three risks of using cell phones while driving or walking.

• Visual. Taking your eyes off the road or path.
• Manual. Removing hands from the steering wheel or misjudging the swinging door or distance to the curb.
• Cognitive. taking your mind off the primary task of driving or navigating a sidewalk.

There is no such thing as multi-tasking. The brain does not perform two tasks simultaneously; it toggles back and forth sequentially between the two tasks that the person thinks are being accomplished at the same time. While the brain makes these switches quickly, they do take time… time that can be the difference between a crash or not, an injury or not, a life lost or not.

It has been proven empirically that the risk of crashing while cell phoning is four times greater than when a cell phone is not being used. Essentially the same statistics apply to pedestrians.

Remember that the next time you are behind the wheel. And, if you’re seen texting while driving in Mount Pleasant, the police are ready to hand out warnings and then tickets. Should an auto accident occur from distracted driving – whether you are at fault or the one injured – please give Barrow Law Firm a call immediately.