DMV distracted driving or driving while texting, chatting, or eating, is quickly becoming one of the nation’s leading causes of car crashes. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), more than eight persons are fatally lost in distracted driving-related incidents on any given day. In addition to the tragic fatalities, hundreds of drivers are wounded every day in the United States as a result of distracted drivers. Thus, in this article, let’s take a closer look at the urgent issue in the vehicle transportation field with a DMV Distracted driving guideline.

 

dmv distracted driving
Using a phone while driving is not appropriate

 

1. What is DMV distracted driving? 

Overall, DMV distracted driving can be understood as doing another activity that takes drivers’ attention away from driving their vehicles on the road. DMV distracted driving significantly increases the likelihood of getting involved in a car accident due to the nature of being less focused on driving. At 100 mph, being distracted for one second leads the car to go 146 feet. Hence, in your DMV test, there will be one section on distracted driving that you should complete to make sure you understand clearly about this topic.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are three types of distracted driving:

  • Visual distractions: Visual driving distractions force you to look away from the road. Activities such as checking your GPS or navigation system, listening to the radio, and hunting for mirror or temperature controls or misplaced things on the floor of your car are examples.
  • Manual distractions: Manual distractions are those that lead you to take your hands off the wheel, such as eating, drinking, smoking, checking your phone, changing the radio, or entering a destination into your vehicle’s in-dash navigation system.
  • Cognitive distractions: Cognitive distractions divert your attention and concentration away from driving. This can range from talking with other passengers in the vehicle to road rage or driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Stress and exhaustion are additional factors.

Sleepy or tired driving is a type of cognitive distraction that contributes to more than 100,000 accidents each year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths. Distracted drivers are also less likely to respond safely to hazardous road and weather conditions since they fail to notice risks and react too slowly to changing traffic situations.

Noticeably, using phones to make a call or text someone is one of the most dangerous situations of distractions while driving because they can be categorized into three types of distracted driving. That’s the reason why almost states published laws against using phones while operating your vehicle. 

 

2. How has DMV distracted driving changed recently?

In general, DMV distracted driving occupies a big part of the United State traffic accidents. Over the last 5 years, the total number of distracted driving can be estimated between 250,000 to 300,000 crashes each year. Let’s take a look at the quick comparison between gender and state to know how distracted driving has changed recently.

 

2.1. Gender

What do you think about this topic? Which gender do you think has more distractions while operating their car? The answer is men. According to a trusted statistic, men are more than twice as likely as women to be involved in a deadly distracted driving collision.

Significantly, cell phones contribute to more than 13% of driving distracted accidents. This is understandable given that using a cell phone would negatively affect your capacity to respond to dangers. Speaking on a cell phone while driving raises the chance of an accident by two times, while texting increases the risk of a crash by up to six times.

 

2.2. States

Have you ever wondered which state has the most DMV distracted driving and which one has the lowest rate? Within three years, it is reported that New Mexico ranks first with 99.98 points of severity. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 100,000 drivers, there will be 10 distracted driving deaths. The following states is Kansas with 51.25 points and Louisiana with a score of 50.19.

On the other hand, Mississippi is the state with the least distracted driving, the severity score of this state is only 4.62. Moreover, only 1.5% of the state’s fatal crashes were reported to be distracted driving-related.

 

2.3. Age

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driving distraction is reported to occur mostly in teenage drivers. They also stated that students who texted or emailed while driving were also more likely to have transportation risky behavior including:

  • Tend to not always fasten their seat belt
  • Sit in the same car with an alcoholic driver
  • Drive under alcohol effects

 

distracted driving
Don’t eat while operating your car!

 

3. How to prevent DMV Distracted driving?

We’ve known how dangerous DMV distracted driving can cause. Hence, we should take some action to prevent this issue. Here are our suggestions:

 

3.1. Limit the time of using your phone

A cell phone should only be used in an emergency while driving. Even so, it’s preferable to pull over to the right shoulder safely to make a call. Even hands-free devices might cause you to miss critical visual and aural clues required to prevent a collision.

Cell phone social discussions should not be carried out while driving. Remember that it is illegal in an increasing number of jurisdictions. You might get a ticket and get fined.

 

3.2. Pull off the road if you are drowsy

Drowsiness and tiredness can be nearly four times the risk of an accident. According to federal research, 37% of US drivers have drifted off or fallen asleep at least once throughout their driving. If you’re tired, pull over, and don’t try to get home faster to avoid distracted driving.

 

3.3. Don’t eat while driving

If you say that you are too busy so that you can eat your breakfast or lunch at home, it is unexcepted. Rearranging your time is the solution, not eating while driving. In fact, eating is also one of the most causes of driving distraction.

 

3.4. Use voice commands and hands-free communications

Voice commands can be used to help you with the GPS gadget or hands-free Bluetooth conversations. However, use these with caution because they are not infallible. Trying to play with electronics might sometimes be distracting. 

And, even if you’re using Bluetooth, you’ll be distracted if you’re deep into a phone discussion on speakers, such as with your spouse, children, or coworkers. It is declared that wearing both earphones attached to a smartphone constitutes a distracted driving offense, so that’s not a good idea either.

 

distracted driving guideline
Using voice commands to answer a call 

 

3.5. Keep your car clean

Yes, it is the most important prevention you could do. DMV distracted driving include items rolling around the car floor, dirty windows, and items that could potentially obstruct your driving view. Removing anything that could distract you from the wheel and the road from your vehicle is a suggestion for you.

 

 

In conclusion, DMV distracted driving is a big issue that leads to fatality. Thus, all drivers on the road should notice and be responsible for what they make. We hope that after reading this article, you can get some tips to avoid distracted driving as well as get all the DMV distracted driving correctly. You can practice more on our DMV Practice Test, a good method to score high on your real test!