The National Safety Council reports that texting while driving causes roughly 1,600,000 car accidents a year. This doesn’t account for accidents that happened because of emailing, changing the Pandora station, or answering a phone call. Clearly, distracted driving – especially distracted driving due to electronics – is a real problem. If your phone rings, or you get a notification while on the road, it’s practically torture to not look at it. But unfortunately, this is a habit that puts you, your passengers, and other drivers on the road at risk. The hardest part is breaking that habit. How can you get used to not looking at your phone for that 30 minute commute to work? We’ve put a few tips together to help you end distracted driving:
Leave phone in passenger seat
If you leave your phone in the other seat, face down, and the volume is off, you won’t be able to hear or see when you get a notification, so you won’t be tempted to pick it up. Additionally, since it’s farther away, it’s more difficult, and dangerous to get to it. If it’s out of reach, you’re unlikely to grab it.
Designated texting
If you’re driving other people, give your phone to one of your passengers. If you’re in the car with friends, have them hold on to it for you. They can even respond to your messages if you’d like. If you’re in the car with the kids, you might let them use the car time to play on a fun app like Angry Birds. When someone else has the phone, there’s no chance of you getting to it.
Consider apps
There are a ton of apps out there that you can download, for free or for a price, that will render your phone unresponsive while you’re driving. Some apps turn on automatically as you start moving, which means you can’t “forget” to turn the program on. They will send your phone calls immediately to voicemail and can send immediate responses to text messages that say “Sorry, I’m driving.” These apps, like DriveSafe.ly and Safely Go are a very effective way to ensure that you won’t pick that phone up at all.
Get a book on tape/CD
While this might seem like an odd suggestion, the reality is that many people turn to their phones when they get bored driving. If you have a book on tape or on CD that’s playing in the car, you’re likely to pay attention to that, and think less about your phone. That novel you’ve been meaning to get to just might come on tape!
Preprogram your playlists
Changing songs on your phone while you’re driving is still distracted driving. It’s a good idea to get a playlist all set up before you even get into the car. This way, you won’t be looking down trying to figure out what the next song is, because it will already be playing.
Whichever method you choose, make sure you stick with it. The longer you do the sooner you’ll be able to break the habit of distracted driving.
Driving safely means a better driving record, which can directly affect your car insurance. If you drive well and break distracted driving habits, you’ll be keeping yourself, your passengers, and other drivers safer, and that means you’ll pay less for your auto insurance. If you have any questions regarding your driving record or your auto insurance, give one of the expert insurance advisors at Doyle & Ogden a call today at (616) 949-9000. No time to talk? You can submit a request for a free no obligation quote online.
