CELL PHONES AND DRIVER DISTRACTIONS

TIPS YOU CAN USE: CELL PHONES AND DRIVER DISTRACTIONS

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driver
distractions are a contributing cause in approximately 25 percent of all
motor vehicle crashes or about 1.2 million accidents. However,
distractions can be hard to quantify, and the number of accidents due to
driver distractions is difficult to define. What can further complicate
matters is that there may be more than one distraction, such as eating
while chastising a child in the backseat. In addition, vehicles have
become much more sophisticated with options such as navigation systems,
DVD players, and video games.

Cell phones are considered one of the leading driver distractions. As a
result, more and more communities are placing restrictions on drivers' use
of cell phones. The following tips are offered to motorists in regards to
cell phone use in vehicles.

* You should wait until the car trip is complete before placing a call.
Your cell phone's voice mail feature should answer a call while you are
driving.

* Absolutely essential calls should only be performed while stopped.
However, it is not wise to pull over on the side of the road, where a
rear-end collision is possible. Instead, you should pull into a parking
lot to perform this task.

* The phone should be placed where it is easy to see and reach.

* You should take advantage of speed dialing capabilities.

* You should never drive and talk on the cell phone during stressful,
emotional, or complex discussions since the risk of an accident is
heightened.

* You should consider using a hands-free cellular phone since some studies
indicated that these are safer to use.

* You should never text message while driving.

This article is brought to you by Peter Tuttle, CPA.  You may contact me by sending an e-mail via the link to the right of my active rain blog page.  Please visit my website at http://www.petertuttlecpa.com/

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