What Reasons of Driving Distracted and Its Prevention 

Hair, something that people are obsessed with. The average American has 100,000 strands of hair on their head. Imagine brushing your hair and you reach for your phone. In a blink of an eye, you've lost 100,000 strands of your hair. Four times that many Americans are injured or involved in fatal car crashes. Driving requires complex reaction abilities- the ability to react to multiple situations at once. However, many drivers may not have good reaction time because they're being distracted. Distractions like electronic devices, passengers, and lighting a cigarette are some of the most common and preventable distractions.

Having an electronic device in close proximity is a must for many people. Checking our phones is something that we do on the daily basis. However, checking your phone for even five seconds could end your life. According to The National Safety Council, using a phone while driving leads to 1.6 million car crashes yearly. Mary Bowerman, the author of 'Texting While Driving KIlls, but Will we Stop?' stated that, 'Overall, 87% of respondents agreed that it is dangerous to text or check e-mail while driving, though 18% said they cannot 'resist the urge' to use their phones...' Instead of checking your phone manually you could opt to download apps that read your messages aloud. You could also receive or make calls using Bluetooth through your stereo system. Even downloading an app that blocks text and phone calls could help.

Another issue that many drivers seem to face is passengers. Driving with noisy passengers isn't the best situation to be in. Hearing loud noise may startle you, making you swerve which can cause an accident. In a 2011 survey sponsored by AAA and a pet travel gear company, 23% of pet owners said that they used their arms to restrain dogs. If you're driving with dogs in the back seat you could purchase a dog seat to keep them in place and away from your ears. If you're driving with children you should always have them in a booster seat or a car seat. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) states 'Every hour, nearly 150 children between ages 0 and 19 are treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes. More children ages 5 to 19 die from crash-related injuries than from any other type of injury.' To help prevent serious injury you should make sure that the children are wearing seatbelts.

The dangers aren't always inside of your car. You should always be aware of other drivers on the road. If an intoxicated or frenzied driver is on the road you should make it so that there's distance between the two of you. Defense driving is skills that allow you to defend yourself against possible collisions. Bridget Clerkin, the author of 'Distracted Driving ' tells us that cognitive distractions, manual distraction, and visual distractions can lead to car crashes resulting in injury or death. Whenever you're driving always take safety into consideration because in a blink of an eye you could be in a fatal car crash, and that'll be the last time you blink.