PUT IT DOWN: Focus on the road
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles wants to educate Floridians about the importance of avoiding distracted driving with the Put It Down: Focus on the Road campaign. Distracted driving is anything that takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road or mind off driving. FLHSMV encourages all motorists to avoid all distractions while driving.
Statistics
Why Distracted Driving is Dangerous?
Many things can cause distractions while driving. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reminds drivers to keep their eyes on the road, put their phones down, and focus on the road. Driving distracted can not only hurt you and your passengers but it can significantly influence the driving behavior of others, especially young, impressionable drivers. Distracted driving crashes are increasing every year, and we read about tragic, preventable crashes on Florida roads every day. Distracted driving is anything that takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road or, your mind off driving.
What are Considered Distractions?
Distractions can be broken down into three types
| Types of Driving Distractions | |
|---|---|
| Visual | Taking your eyes off the road |
| Manual | Taking your hands off the wheel |
| Cognitive | Thinking about anything other than driving |
Texting requires all three types of distractions, making it one of the most dangerous of distracted driving behaviors. However, this is not the only cause of distracted driving. Other common distractions include: tending to kids or passengers in the back seat, eating, watching an event outside of the vehicle, interacting with passengers, unsecured pets, putting on makeup or grooming, adjusting radio or climate controls, checking your GPS app or daydreaming.
To successfully avoid a crash, a driver must perceive a hazard, react and give the vehicle time to stop. Driver perception distance, or the distance a vehicle travels from the time a driver sees a hazard until the brain recognizes it, and reaction distance, the distance a car will continue to travel after seeing a hazard until the driver physically hits the brakes, dramatically affects a vehicle’s stopping distance. Even a focused driver going 50 mph will travel nearly the length of a football field before coming to a complete stop.
Reminders and Ways to Avoid Being Distracted
- FLHSMV is dedicated to educating Florida motorists on the importance of avoiding distracted driving and informing motorists of current laws against distracted driving.
- With every traffic stop, the Florida Highway Patrol and law enforcement officers statewide take the time to provide life-saving education to motorists, reminding them of the dangers of driving distracted and making it a teachable moment. We never want a driver to learn the hard way.
- If you need to text, look up directions or take an important call, pull over to a safe location and put your car in park. Or simply wait until you reach your destination. If you have a passenger, have them respond to calls or messages.
- Many smartphones have “Do Not Disturb” or “Focus” settings that silence all notifications on your phone. If your phone and car both have Bluetooth capabilities, their should be a Driving Focus feature that will not allow notifications while you are driving.
- Limit eating, drinking, applying makeup or engaging in any activity that removes your eyes from the road or your hands from the wheel.