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Who hasn’t done one of these: taken your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel or your mind off driving? Distracted driving is everywhere, despite the warnings about dangers. And consider this: At 55 mph, sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for about five seconds, long enough to cover a football field. That leaves plenty of room for causing or having an accident.
How to Stay Focused
Texting gets a lot of attention for distracted driving, but it’s not the only diversion wreaking havoc on the road. Here are seven things you can do to be part of the solution, rather than the problem, of distracted driving:
Map your route before you start driving, or pull over to the side of the road to configure your map if you’re lost.
Put your phone on silent or turn it off while driving to disable the Bluetooth connection. Or, put your phone out of reach when you get in the car.
If others are in the car with you, assign a ‘designated texter’ to take care of your messages for you.
Eat breakfast, apply makeup or shave at home, not in the car.
Prevent pets from roaming in the car while you’re driving.
Download an app that disallows texting while the car is in motion. (There are plenty of free apps with varying techniques to curb texting and driving.
Talk with your loved ones about making a commitment to stop distracted driving. Speak up when you see each other giving in to distraction.
(BHS)