If you look at car accident stats in the modern era, you might notice something striking. Many times, a car wreck happens because one of the drivers let something distract them. They fell victim to distracted driving, and they made a traffic mistake that caused a collision.
You can take action to prevent distracted driving, though, and you owe it to yourself and other drivers to do it. By avoiding letting anything distract you while you’re behind the wheel, you also keep pedestrians, cyclists, and even family pets safe. You never know when a dog or cat might run out into the road, and staying vigilant protects them as well.
How can you keep yourself from distracted driving? We’ll take a few moments to discuss that in detail now.
What Does Distracted Driving Mean?
First, let’s talk about what distracted driving means. In this context, the term refers to when a driver lets virtually anything divert their attention when they’re on the road.
You might let just about anything distract you. There’s a long list. No matter what can potentially distract you, though, you need to recognize it as a danger if you know that it happens to you sometimes.
Take a Moment to Center Yourself
To avoid distracted driving, you can start by taking a moment to center yourself when you get behind the wheel of your car. Understand before you start the engine that you’re about to be operating a multiple-ton vehicle. Though it’s a form of transportation, it’s also a weapon.
Because of the size of virtually any modern car, you need to take the driving of it very seriously. If you have other thoughts in your head besides the operation of that vehicle and the traffic laws that you need to follow, then that could spell disaster.
Take a single deep, cleaning breath before you start driving and focus yourself. Stay present in the moment. Don’t think about the dinner you’re about to have when you get home or the promotion you’re trying to get at work.
By not letting your mind wander when you’re driving, you’re a lot less likely to let anything distract you. It’s something that not everyone does, but if you get in this habit, you can avoid many distracted driving accidents.
Think About What’s Good in Your Life
Before you start the car, you can also think about everything that’s good in your life. Presumably, this list of things forms a huge part of why you get up in the morning.
For many people, that’s their spouse or partner. Maybe it’s your kids. No matter what gives you purpose, think about it before you start your daily commute or before you drive for any reason.
If you think about what gives your life its purpose, then that’s another way you can focus yourself. You will realize the value that you have for other people, and you’ll prize your life and all of its many wonderful aspects. By doing so, you’ll stay mentally present and not let anything trivial distract you while operating a motor vehicle.
Put the Cell Phone Away
You should also know that smartphones distract more people when they’re driving than just about anything else. The accident stats make that very obvious.
You will probably have your smartphone with you while you’re driving, but don’t use it. If you need to put it in the center consol of the car, then do that. You might also put it in the glove compartment, your pocket, or your purse.
If you can learn not to use your cell phone while you’re driving or to even think about it, then you have taken away the number one thing that distracts modern drivers. There’s plenty of other things that could potentially distract you, but at least you won’t end up as one of those people who ruefully admit that they slammed into the car in front of them while responding to a text message or checking your social media account.
Master the Art of Using Your Peripheral Vision
You should also know that the touchscreen that comes with your car can distract you. That’s ironic, since that screen supposedly helps you as a driver. It’s true that you can do a lot with this screen that’s potentially helpful, but all of that goes out the window if you’re staring at your vehicle’s touchscreen when you hit another car.
If you’re using your car’s infotainment system for navigation purposes, or for any other reason while driving, then you need to learn how to glance at it for just a second at a time when you’re certain you have a convenient moment to do so. Looking at it for any longer than that diverts your attention from the road for longer than its safe.
If you can glance at the map that shows where you are going with just your peripheral vision, then you haven’t let that screen completely distract you. Learning this maneuver should serve you well as a driver, since it doesn’t seem likely car companies will discontinue installing these screens anytime soon.
Know What Else Might Distract You
Finally, you can avoid distracted driving by knowing what else distracts you. As we mentioned earlier, it’s potentially a pretty long list. It probably will not look the same for any two drivers.
You might let food or drinks in the car with you distract you. Maybe you’ll let a passenger sitting beside you distract you if they’re talking loudly or singing. You might let a billboard or a bus stop bench with a clever or funny advertisement distract you.
If you take a close look at your driving behavior, though, you can usually determine potential distractions pretty quickly. Once you do that, you can think of some ways to keep it from happening in the future.
By staying aware of what might distract you, you have a great chance of curbing the behavior.
