People in Missouri drive their vehicles almost every day. It is easy to become comfortable driving a certain common route over and over. People may almost go into an auto pilot mode when driving. This can make it even easier for a driver to become distracted while driving. They expect the flow of traffic to continue in a certain pattern and, therefore, may lose focus on the road. This can easily lead to car accidents.
Distractions for drivers come in many different forms as well. People usually immediately think about phone use when they think about distracted driving. Phone use is certainly a major and dangerous distraction, but there are many other ways that drivers become distracted that can be equally dangerous.
Four main types of distractions
There are four main types of distractions and those are:
Visual distractions: These are any distraction that causes the driver to take their eyes off of the road. Phone use falls into this category, but people may also look at billboards, other crashes on the side of the road, other passengers in their vehicle and many other objects or people.
Physical distractions: These are distractions that cause people to take their hands off the steering wheel. It could be typing into a phone, eating or drinking, reaching for something in the car and other activities that cause people to take their hands off of the wheel
Hearing distractions: These are distractions caused by sound. People may not realize it, but loud sounds can cause people to lose focus on driving. It can be distracting when music is too loud, people are having conversations with people in the car or on the phone, loud kids or other sounds.
Mental distractions: These are distractions that force people to think about something other than driving. Many of the other distractions involve mental distractions, but even using the voice-activated features in a vehicle can be distracting. It is also distracting when people are experiencing significant emotions such as anger or sadness.
As people can see, there are many distractions for drivers in Missouri. Phone use certainly may be the most dangerous as it can involve all four types of distractions at the same time, but it is important to limit the other distractions as well. Many car accidents are due to distracted drivers and people can suffer serious injuries as a result. Experienced attorneys understand how distracted driving can affect people’s lives and may be a useful resource.