Driver distractions are the foremost cause of auto accidents in the country. Save for this, the only compelling reason could be that you are inexperienced, you are mentally unsound or that you are intoxicated. Accidents don’t just happen randomly, they happen due to a momentary lapse in concentration.
A survey conducted on all the insurance companies resulted with the statistics that your auto insurance rates will go up by 22 percent for each accident that you were found to be at fault for. And it will go up by 13 percent after the first ticket. Now this is a huge sum of money, considering that the normal person pays upwards of 300$ to insure his car every month. You are looking at an extra 350$ per annum for every ticket that you get! That is a lot of money.
Listed below are some of the major driver distractions in this country.
Use of mobile phones while driving
It is shown that using mobile phones by driving is a major cause of all road accidents in this country. Almost 8 out of 10 drivers admit to using mobile phones in one way or the other while on the road. And there is no greater distraction than this. You could be speaking on the phone or you might be texting, but your eyes will be off the road all the same.
Some people argue that use of hands free devices can reduce driver distraction, but the fact remains that you are going to be more interested in the conversation at hand, than on the road. You might argue saying that a driver can also have a conversation with his co-passengers, but this is a totally different scenario. You might have noticed yourself that when you are talking on the phone, your eyes tend to focus on the horizon rather than on the road. You do not have a subject within eye shot, and hence you tend to involuntarily focus on something that does not exist. There have been numerous psychological studies to show that having a conversation with a co-passenger is totally different from talking to a distant entity on the phone.
Texting is also a major cause of accidents. It is even worse than talking, as it involves use of hand-eye coordination. If you start typing out a message, both your hands are going to be off the wheel. This is a totally unacceptable situation. You need to realize that an accident or a ticket can shoot your auto insurance rates up.
But legislation cannot be easily passed against hands free devices. People find it very hard to do away with a tool like a phone in a car. Many people argue that a phone is necessary for safety, directions and increased work productivity. And not to mention the mobile phone lobby which would never allow such a legislation to be passed.
Eating or drinking while driving
Fast food was invented for the very reason that people needed to eat while on the go. Now it is one thing to grab a hotdog for the subway or the bus, but it is a totally different thing to be eating while driving. Eating hot or greasy stuff can very easily distract you from the road and cause and accident, thus increasing your auto insurance rates.
