Texting – Mobile talking while driving – Distracted Driving Laws and Penalties

What Distracted Driving Is And How To Combat It
It only takes a few milliseconds for you to look away from the road and end up in a ife altering car crash because you got distracted while driving and crashed. It could seem incredibly easy and not dangerous at all to take a quick peek at a message someone sends you, but distracted driving, no matter how innocent it may seem, is incredibly dangerous for you and everyone else on the road with you. In fact, research suggests that every day at least nine people die and 1,060 people are injured in the United States alone because of distracted driving. These accidents could be completely avoided if people paid better attention to their surroundings when driving, instead of driving distracted.
What is distracted driving
Driving distracted can be anything that seems innocent enough, but takes any amount of your focus off of the road while you are behind the wheel. This can be anything like listening to the radio too loud and focusing on the music more than you do on the road. Answering a phone call and talking to someone on the other line, looking down at your phone and reading and/or answering a text message, or even talking to other people in the car. All of these things and anything else that can take your complete focus off the road, even for a millisecond, is considered distracted driving.

Penalties for distracted driving
State government and the federal government are taking big steps towards cutting down on distracted driving so that there are fewer accidents that lead to serious injuries or even death. States are doing taking action by putting in and enforcing laws like the hands-free law that can be found in Georgia. This law states that you cannot hold any type of device while you are driving and the penalty is a hefty fine. There are also laws that prohibit texting and driving, and laws in many states that prohibit any form of distracted driving and will charge $300 or more if you are caught and that is for the first offense alone: the fine continues to go up with each subsequent offense.
On the federal level, they are adding steep fines and grants that help states enforce laws banning texting and driving, and other types of distracted driving.
Statistics about distracted driving
We know that distracted driving is a nation-wide issue, but the actual statistics are not only surprising but downright startling. Some of these startling statistics are that every year there are 1.6 million crashes that are not just caused by distracted driving in general, but cell phone usage alone. The National Safety Council reports that every day just about 660,000 drivers are engaging in some sort of distracted driving that leads to an accident- and it has been found that it is usually cell phone-related incidents. Within those numbers, it has been reported that a large portion of those drivers is teen drivers. In fact, 94% of teenage drivers know what distracted driving is and how to avoid it, but 35% of those teens do it anyway. For this reason, teenage drivers are 4 times more likely to get into a wreck. Nearly half (48%) of all drivers openly admit to having some sort of distraction while driving but think they can drive safely anyways.
Tips To Avoid Distracted Driving
Almost everyone is guilty of doing some type of distracted driving, but there are some easy methods you can take to help you drive more safely. You should never use your cell phone while driving unless it is an emergency. Even in emergency situations, it is recommended to pull over to the side of the road when it is safe to do so, and then use your phone. Even if you use a hands-free phone like a Bluetooth, you can end up more focused on the call than the road which could lead to an accident just as easily. If you ever feel sleepy, you should not try to push through, rather pull off the road when it is safe to do so and catch a quick nap. You should also not drive with too many people in your car. Too many people can cause too much commotion and activity inside the car which can easily distract you. To avoid this, try to limit the number of people and ask them to have fun, but remain respectfully calm while you drive to your destination. Going to the drive-thru for a quick meal or a snack can seem easy, but looking down to grab your food and trying to eat it while you’re driving is not only distracting but incredibly dangerous! Wait until you get to your destination to dive into your meal!
Why is driving school important?
Every driver should take the time to go to driving school. These classes will teach you how to drive defensively: in other words how to look out for other distracted drivers on the road so that you can avoid accidents caused by others. It will also teach you how to drive without getting distracted yourself so you and everyone else on the road are safe!
Why choose arrow driving schools
Arrow driving school is combating distracted driving alberta because it is designed to give the best driving lessons around. Whether they are teaching teen drivers, new drivers, habitually distracted drivers or veteran drivers, you can be sure you’re getting the best driving lessons possible. New drivers and veteran drivers alike love their driving lessons edmonton, and they know they’re getting great driving lessons prices. Driving lessons edmonton offer competitive driving lessons prices so that more people can learn how to become better drivers and the statistics of distracted driving alberta continue to go down.
Why our students choose us
People continue to choose our school because we take the time to make sure they understand how to drive safely and defensively so everyone gets where they need to go. If everyone made the conscious effort to remain focused when they drove and put away their distractions, the number of accidents that happen every day would be cut by a major fraction!