For a teen, learning to drive and obtaining your driver’s license is an exciting milestone in life. To help ensure driving your first car is the first of many milestones for you, the staff of Fifth Gear Automotive’s auto repair shops in Lewisville, TX would like to share some facts about distracted driving and how it can affect teen drivers, and how to prevent it.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is the engagement in any activity while driving a vehicle that takes your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel, or your mind off the task of driving safely.
The privilege of driving imparts a new responsibility upon teenage drivers to ensure safe driving. Our auto repair shops in Lewisville, TX would like to promote safety by sharing the following common activities that teens (and some adults) often practice, accounting for unsafe driving and fatal accidents.
1. Cell Phone
Use
Everyone is aware of the dangers of cell phone use during driving. In 2014, texting alone accounted for 330,000 injuries.
According to the latest statistics, 16-19 year-olds are nearly 3 times as likely to be involved in a fatal crash, than drivers in the 20 and older age group. However, when you compare the 16-17 year old rate to those in the 18-19 year old group, the younger, more inexperienced drivers are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal outcome.
According to the National Safety Council, cell phone use in all age groups while driving is responsible for 1.6 million motor vehicle accidents each year. Furthermore, 1 out of every 4 accidents in the U.S. is caused by texting and driving. In fact, texting itself takes 11 teen lives every day in the U.S.
When using a cell phone, pull over to a safe location off the road. No phone call or text message is worth losing your life, or taking an innocent one.
2. Eating and Driving
Driving while attempting to eat, and drink can be more than fast food; it can be a fast detour for a crash. Eat in the restaurant, and enjoy your food, or save it until you reach your destination.
3. Grooming
Putting on makeup or shaving while flying down the road takes your attention from the road. Keep your eyes on the road, and apply makeup at home or school.
4. Maps or navigation devices
GPS navigation, whether on cell phones or a separate device can save time and prevent frustration when driving in unfamiliar territory. However, inputting an address or looking at the phone to see the next directions are distractions that could cost your life.
To be safe, pull over to put in an address, and turn the vocal instructions loud enough that you do not have to look away from the road while driving. If you require assistance installing a GPS device on your teen’s car, schedule the service with Fifth Gear Automotive’s auto repair shops in Lewisville, TX.
Regular maintenance on your teen’s car in Fifth Gear Automotive’s auto repair shops in Lewisville, TX is an additional step in keeping your teen safe with a reliable vehicle.
5. Searching for a dropped item
When you are driving, looking for a dropped object can cost your life. Pull off the road before looking for it. Dropped objects can wait until it is safe to retrieve.
Remember, both hands on the wheel, eyes and mind on the road when the car is in motion.
6. Allowing your mind wander
If you are tired, sleepy, inebriated or in a mental fog, you should not be behind the wheel. Calling for a ride can save your life, and those of other drivers and their passengers. Do not risk becoming another statistic, contact a friend, a relative, or call a taxi.
No distraction is worth your life.
By eliminating distractions while you drive, you can drive safely. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and that privilege requires the responsibility of driving safely.
Fifth Gear Automotive auto repair shops in Lewisville, TX welcomes you to share this message with your teen drivers. While your teen learns to drive safely, our certified automotive technicians can take care of your maintenance and automotive repair needs in our auto repair shops in Lewisville, TX.
