Cassels Garage

Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Published on April 9, 2018
Distracted Driving Awareness Month

April is Distracted Driving Awareness month. Police departments, highway patrol, and auto insurance carriers are teaming up to raise awareness and encourage every driver to be more proactive behind the wheel. At Cassels Garage, a full-service auto repair shop in Melbourne, FL, we want to join the effort to promote safe driving. While we can make your car as safe and well-maintained as possible by performing brake checks, oil changes, tire rotations and transmission repairs, your safety on the road is ultimately up to you and the drivers around you. So, we wanted to take some time and talk about the dangers of distracted driving so you can do your part to make the road a safer place.

Get Home Safely: Focus on the Road

Unfortunately, distracted drivers are everywhere you look. At Cassels Garage, we see it all time. As people fly down New Haven Avenue in Melbourne, Florida – you can’t help but notice people texting, talking, eating – all while driving their car well over the speed limit. We’ve even noticed people doing their makeup, changing their clothes and brushing their hair while driving!

You must ask yourself, how can they possibly be paying attention if they are doing all that while driving?

The answer is they can’t. According to data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were almost 50,000 crashes in the state of Florida in 2017 attributed to distracted driving. Let’s put that in perspective. There were a total of 388,032 car accidents in Florida last year. Roughly 12% or 1 out of every 12 accidents were caused by distracted drivers.

These are all accidents that could have been prevented if drivers made a conscious effort to do one thing: focus on driving. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Most people think of texting and cell phone use when they think of distracted driving. It’s true, cell phones are a huge distraction. But, according to the Florida Highway Safety of Motor Vehicles, there are actually three types of distractions: visual, manual and cognitive.

Let’s Break Them Down:

  1. Visual Distraction: A visual distraction is caused by taking your eyes off the road. Ok, so the mascara the girl in front of you was applying while she was driving just fell on the floor. She takes her eyes off the road to pick up the mascara for 3 seconds going 40MPH. Now she’s traveled quite the distance without looking at the cars or hazards in front of her. Yikes! The car in front of her stopped short. She slams on her brakes on Melbourne Ave. and hits the car in front of her. Now she’s in need of auto repair, she will be late for work, and she and the other driver may be injured.
  2. Manual Distraction: Manual distractions happen when someone takes their hands off the wheel. Now, there’s a guy driving the down Irwin Ave. in West Melbourne, minutes away from Cassels Garage. He ’s sipping his Big Gulp, hears his phone buzz with a text. No problem, he decides to drive with his knees and take both hands off the driver’s wheel. Next thing you know, he veers off the road, up over a curb and into a ditch. Now, it really doesn’t matter what that text said, does it?
  3. Cognitive Distraction: This is when your mind is simply not on driving. Ok, so this one is tough. Everyone is guilty of going over their checklist of things to do while behind the wheel. Life happens. You left the house in a hurry and now you can’t remember if you locked the door. Your required maintenance light is still on in your car, but you’ve been too busy to do anything about it. You know you need to call to make an auto appointment for an oil change, but when will you have the time to do it? You’re racing around, thinking about everything and anything except for the task at hand, driving your car. If your mind is consumed with all these thoughts, it’s easy to miss the guy on the bike as you enter the right turning lane. This is a tragic and common mistake. So please, try to clear your mind before you hit the road.
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