There is definitely one group that presents a greater risk for distracted driving, but the second group may be a little surprising. Before we examine these two groups, let’s define distracted driving so that we know exactly what is meant by the term.
What Is Distracted Driving?
You are driving while distracted when you take the opportunity to do anything other than keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel. This presents a problem because researchers concluded that you will travel the length of a football field if you take your eyes off the road for only 5 seconds. That seems as if it is a very short time, but it has been enough to cause very serious collisions.
The Four Types of Distracted Driving
The four types of distracted driving include the following:
Cognitive
This is when you are thinking about anything other than driving. Therefore, it is not even safe to use a hands-free device to talk on the phone because you are still distracted.
Manual
This is when you take your hands off the wheel to reach for items, eat, drink or adjust controls. You cannot properly control your vehicle when you do this.
Visual
This is taking your eyes off the road, even if you are looking in your mirrors or checking the navigation systems.
Auditory
Listening to anything that is not coming from the road.
Who Is Most at Risk?
Teens and Young Adults
The age group that is most at risk of driving while distracted is young adults and teenage drivers. This is the age group that is 15 to 20 years old.
Texting and Emailing
The cellular phone is one of the biggest distractions for motorists. This includes checking up on social media, talking on the phone and watching videos, but the biggest distractions are texting and sending or reading emails. The statistics support these facts. For example, of the past 30 days before taking a survey, 39% of high school respondents stated that they had emailed or texted at least once in those 30 days.
Texting and emailing did not discriminate on the basis of grade point average. As many A- and B-students admitted to texting and emailing while driving as those who earned Cs, Ds and Fs.
Texting is particularly dangerous because it combines three of the four types of distractions: cognitive, manual and visual.
Additional Risks
Students are more dangerous because they are not just engaging in texting and emailing while driving. They are also more likely to admit to other risky behaviors, such as drinking while driving, riding with a driver who had been drinking and refraining from wearing their seat belts.
The Teens Most Likely to Drive Distracted
Teens who are 16 years old are only 31% more likely to drive distracted, but 17-year-old drivers are 51% more likely, and 18-year-old drivers are 60% more likely.
Other Dangerous Types of Distracted Driving
The state of Oklahoma defines distracted driving as any activity that diverts attention from the road, which includes interacting with passengers, using the radio and texting or talking on the phone. There are other everyday activities that can cause a driver to take their attention of the road including:
Eating and Drinking
Eating and drinking are also extremely dangerous activities while someone is behind the wheel.
Personal Care
As hard as it may be to believe, some people spend time behind the wheel shaving or putting on their makeup. Needless to say, this is highly dangerous behavior and should not be done while driving. It places everybody on the road with you in danger, so refrain from engaging in these activities while driving.
Distracted driving resulted in more than 652,000 collisions in the U.S. in 2022, but this is entirely avoidable. In 2022, 3,308 people died in distracted driving collisions, and we can reduce this number to 0 by refusing to engage in the behaviors listed in this article. Be safe on the roads!
