April 2017 National Distracted Driving Month

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]A new traffic safety epidemic has emerged on America’s roadways that demand immediate attention: distracted driving. Texting is of intensified anxiety because it combines three types of distraction – visual, manual and cognitive. In other words, texting involves taking your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel, and your mind off the task of driving. [/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_accordion][x_accordion_item title=”Visual Distraction” open=”true”]Visual distraction occurs when a driver sees objects or events and this impairs the driver’s observations of the road environment.

Concern about visual distraction is not new – when windscreen wipers were first introduced, there was concern over their potentially hypnotic effect. 8

The way that a driver observes the area around the vehicle depends on how complex it is, and in complex environments, drivers can find it more difficult to identify the main hazards.

In undemanding situations, driver’s attention tends to wander towards objects or scenery that are not part of the driving task. Estimates of how much time drivers spend doing this varies from between 20% and 50%. 9[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title=”Manual Distraction” open=”false”]Manual distractions cause you to take one or both hands off of the wheel. Some examples include:
Eating and drinking.
Adjusting your child’s seatbelt.
Smoking.
Searching through your purse or wallet.
Turning knobs in your car.[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title=”Cognitive Distraction” open=”false”]Cognitive distraction occurs when a driver is thinking about something not related to driving.

Studies of driver’s eye fixations while performing a demanding cognitive task show that their visual field narrows both vertically and horizontally – meaning that rather than scanning the road environment for hazards and spends much more time staring ahead than usual; in other words, tunnel vision.

This means that drivers who are cognitively impaired will spend less time checking mirrors or looking around for hazards.[/x_accordion_item][/x_accordion][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”http://2passdd.com/taylor/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/u-drive-u-text-u-pay-infogrfx-4.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]