Every single year, devastating stories come out about horrible auto accidents that happened because of a distracted driver. Families are shattered and lives are ended all because a simple Instagram notification or a text message couldn’t wait a few minutes.
While many people have fears of flying on a plane, snake bites, or house fires, driving is without a doubt the most dangerous thing you do. Every single year in the United States, about 42,000 people lose their lives as a result of a traffic accident. For perspective, about 4,000 people died last year from a house fire and only 358 died in 2022 from a plane crash. As scared as many of us are of snakes, only 5-6 people die each year from venomous snake bites.
If driving is this dangerous, it only makes sense to do everything in our power to be as safe as possible. What our team recommends is to create a list of family rules that help everyone stay accountable for driving safely. This is especially important when you have young kids at home that are approaching their driving years. If they watch mom and dad text while driving, it’s safe to assume that they will do the same.
The simplest thing you can do to fight distracted driving is to put your phone on Do Not Disturb. This completely eliminates the chance that an unexpected phone buzz, chime, or ding will distract you from driving. In fact, this will not interfere with your ability to play music or listen to podcasts from your cellphone.
The reason this is important is because, at 70 mph, your car goes roughly 100 feet per second. If you glance down for three seconds to check a text, you’ve gone the length of a football field without looking at the road. The dangers to you and anyone around you are unparalleled.
Driving shouldn’t be scary. In fact, it should be a freedom that all of us responsibly enjoy. However, simply by putting your phone on Do Not Disturb while driving, you will remove the temptation and drastically increase the chances of not becoming a yearly statistic.