April is Distracted Driving Awareness month. The Traffic Safety Commission describes distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including texting, eating and drinking, talking on the phone or to people in your car, using the navigation system, even adjusting the stereo. Officials say texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds and at 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. Officials also say during daylight hours, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones while driving creating enormous potential for deaths and injuries on the roads. In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed, and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. Teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes.
