Top Five Driving Distractions – Do You Commit these Sins?

26 May Top Five Driving Distractions – Do You Commit these Sins?

Just a day after Memorial Day weekend, and already we’ve been hearing stories about careless drivers on the road, in the air, on the water – and the vehicle wrecks and accidents they’ve caused in Texas.
Take the story about the driver who was playing with her iPod while driving (and wearing headphones on top of it) who “didn’t even see” the car in front of her come to a stop – at a neighborhood stop sign. At nearly 35mph, this careless driver rammed into the back of the car stopped at this intersection, strewing glass, parts – even the body of the car – all over the road in this quaint neighborhood. Neighbors who happened to be standing on the lawn watched the entire ordeal as the woman driving with her iPod shook and stammered her way through an interview with the police. Injuries sustained: the woman sustained a nasty case of whiplash and significant bruising. The other driver wasn’t nearly so lucky: back injury and spinal injuries, head injury from hitting the windshield, and plenty of emotional damage (we wouldn’t want to drive a car again either) on top of the physical damage to the car.

Or the story about two drivers racing one another down the interstate – after midnight. Alcohol may have been in a factor in the wreck, but between the drivers, who both cut off another vehicle while driving at nearly double the speed limit, one of which clipped the front bumper of the victim’s car. The victim in this accident was not only a grown man, but his wife and daughter as well.

Even our own employees aren’t immune to vehicle accidents, this one on the lake. We heard a story this morning of two boats colliding over the long weekend – a Jetski (personal watercraft) and a sailboat. Sensational details (and sunburn) aside, both the JetSki driver and passenger flew from the device and into the hull of the sailboat – and the sailboat sustained significant damage and actually caused another person to fall overboard. Emergency room visits for everyone dampened the spirit of the holiday.

The moral of the story: don’t be a careless driver. Pay attention to what you’re doing. Fumbling with other equipment, not paying attention, eating, drinking, talking on the phone while driving any type of vehicle can have catastrophic consequences – in just the blink of an eye.