Multitasking Behind The Wheel Like Driving Blindfolded

Multitasking Behind The Wheel Like Driving Blindfolded

Multitasking—doing several things simultaneously—may increase productivity if you’re behind your desk. But when you’re driving, it’s deadly.
Distracted driving - - commonly the practice of texting or using your cell phone while driving - - has emerged as a leading cause of highway fatalities here and around the globe.
In response to the growing symbol of deaths caused by distracted driving, 32 nations - - including Brazil, France, Japan, Jordan, Spain, Taiwan and the United Dynasty - - have passed laws that restrict drivers ' use of hand - pledged devices. Portugal has outlawed all phone use - - hand - important or hands - free - - in the driver ' s seat. More recently, the United Nations issued a directive banning its 40, 000 employees from texting while driving.
The numbers are compelling. Well-qualified are approximately 600 million passenger vehicles on the road today and 4. 6 billion cell phone subscriptions. According to the World Health Structuring ( WHO ), 1. 3 million lives are claimed every era as a consequence of car accidents, or one death every 30 seconds. That agency estimates that car accidents will climb from the ninth to the fifth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.
The Wholesale Road Safety Association estimates that driver behavior is responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of all roadway accidents. As the symbol of ambulatory communication devices continues to rise, more drivers will have access to them, use them and be distracted by them, leading to more deadly crashes.
In the United States, the numbers are dismal.
The Governmental Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 6, 000 deaths and half a million injuries arise annually as a offshoot of distracted driving.
In response, seven states have outright bans on using any handheld cell phone while driving ( California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington ), as do the District of Columbia and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Wireless headsets are banned for unversed drivers ( under 18 or 21, depending on the state ) in 21 states and D. C. Twenty - three states and D. C. ban text messaging for all drivers, while nine other states ban it for minors and / or new drivers.
The epidemic of distracted driving has lawmakers, regulators and experts striking quickly to improve the issue and to execute and enforce distracted driving laws.
Department of Transportation Secretary Gleam LaHood has avowed he is on a “personal mission” to end distracted driving. “If you have an emergency in your car, tension over, save your cell phone, chat to whoever you have to say to, ” he vocal in a undried stay. “But when you’re driving from one place to another, know onions is no network, either text or phone, that’s important until you get to your destination. ”
Prompted by LaHood, last tide, the Obama administration banned civic employees from texting while driving and sanguine governmental contractors and others strife business with the direction to issue allied policies.
“Studies representation that when a driver sends a topic message, he is looking away from the road for 4. 6 seconds of every 6 seconds he or mademoiselle types, ” says Jim Adler, a Houston - based car accident attorney who has followed the issue closely. “At 55 miles an hour, that’s like driving the hank of a football field blindfolded.
“It ' s vital to ferry a shining message to all drivers that multi - tasking - - texting and cell calls - - is dangerous and can cause catastrophic car accidents. Consequently, to some extent, the public must police itself, curb those calls and ‘hang up and drive, ’ ” he uttered.