The Three Types of Distracted Driving: What Every Michigan Driver Should Know
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NHTSA reports that about 8 percent of fatal crashes involve a distracted driver, and experts believe underreporting means the true share is higher. Distracted driving falls into three major categories: visual, manual and cognitive.
If you are in a crash caused by a distracted driver, our experienced car accident lawyers can help. Here’s what you need to know about the types of distraction, including why phones are especially dangerous.
Do You Have a Case?WHAT IS DISTRACTED DRIVING?
Distracted driving is any activity that takes a motorist’s attention away from driving. NHTSA and CDC generally group it into three categories:
Visual
Looking at something other than the road. That can be inside the vehicle, such as a navigation screen or a child in the back seat, or outside, such as a billboard or another car.
Manual
Taking one or both hands off the wheel. A hand-held phone is the obvious example. Eating, drinking, adjusting climate controls and programming a GPS also take hands off the wheel, and they usually take your mind off driving too.
Cognitive
Anything that takes your mind off the road: an upcoming meeting, a shopping list, worry about family. A driver can look straight ahead and still miss what is happening.
Each type is risky on its own. Activities that combine all three are worse. Examples include texting, talking on a hand-held phone, putting on makeup and unwrapping food. Michigan’s hand-held phone ban targets the manual and visual pieces of that problem.
WHAT ABOUT AUDITORY DISTRACTION?
Some experts add a fourth category: auditory distraction, such as a loud song, a podcast or a conversation. Because listening still takes mental bandwidth, it is usually grouped with cognitive distraction.
DAYDREAMING IS A FORM OF DISTRACTED DRIVING
Most people associate distraction with phones. Analyses of fatal-crash data have also found “lost in thought” or inattention among the leading coded distractions. Daydreaming is less obvious than texting, but a driver can look focused while their attention is elsewhere.
WHAT ARE THE TOP TYPES OF DISTRACTED DRIVING?
According to NHTSA, common distractions coded in crashes include:
- Another person in the car
- A moving object inside the vehicle, such as a pet or dropped item
- Using a cell phone, including a hands-free device
- Changing the radio or climate controls
- Adjusting lights, windows or mirrors
- Using or reaching for something in the vehicle
- A person or event outside the vehicle
- Eating or drinking
- Smoking
- Carelessness or inattentive behavior
- Daydreaming or being lost in thought
- Other or unspecified distraction
WHO IS DISTRACTED DRIVING?
Anyone can become distracted. NHTSA has found that drivers ages 15 to 44 account for a large share of distraction-affected fatal crashes, and phone use while driving is especially common among drivers 21 to 34.
10 TIPS TO AVOID DISTRACTED DRIVING
- Avoid eating and drinking while driving
- Put your phone away
- Pull over to text or take a call
- Let a passenger navigate
- Secure pets and loose items
- Enter a GPS destination before you move
- Pull over if children, passengers or pets need attention
- If something falls on the floor, pull over before you reach for it
- Adjust the seat, mirrors, climate and radio before you go
- Keep your attention on the road
PUT OUR EXPERIENCED CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS TO WORK FOR YOU TODAY
If you or a loved one was injured in a distracted driving accident, we are ready to help. Our legal team knows what it takes to pursue your case and seek the compensation you deserve.
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