Distracted driving isn’t a problem just in the United States. Drivers and motorcyclists overseas are also struggling with the trend, raising concerns that this epidemic goes well beyond what many specialists imagined.
Recently, a driver in the United Kingdom was arrested for killing a motorcyclist while driving her vehicle. According to the reports, she was making a hands-free call when the accident happened.
While many states in the United States have laws that allow for the use of hands-free technology while using a phone behind the wheel, safety groups have already alerted the public that hands-free technology can also be distracting.
In this particular case, the driver lost control of her Ford Fiesta, colliding head-on with a motorcyclist. The driver had been on a long call with a friend when she allowed the vehicle to veer into oncoming traffic.
Unfortunately, hands-free technology may help the driver to fight distraction by keeping the driver’s hands on the wheel, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the motorist won’t experience any kind of cognitive distraction.
While the driver in this case claimed she was not distracted, saying that, instead, she had hit a pothole on the road that caused her to lose control, the authorities were not able to find evidence to support her side of the story. Knowing that cognitive distraction is just as dangerous as any other type of distraction, we understand that similar accidents may be caused by drivers who are distracted simply by conversing with passengers or by using their phones to talk, even if the device is not being handheld.
In order to truly avoid distracted driving, motorists must keep in mind that cognitive distractions are just as dangerous as any other type of distraction. And that if they are not 100 percent dedicated to driving alone, they might end up crashing, regardless of how well they think they are driving.
While this particular accident happened in another country and under different laws, the way the accident happened reminded us of the importance of always putting safety and focus on the road first.
