<img alt="" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" src="https://www.netreturns.biz/Client_Files/azblue/CM/System/distracted-driving-180x130.jpg">Technology allows us to talk on the phone and check social media or email while driving &ndash; all actions that are proven to increase crash risk. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, a time the <a href="http://nsc.org" target="_blank">National Safety Council</a> highlights this epidemic. Take a moment to learn more about the dangers of distracted driving, and take the Focused Driver Challenge, a pledge to your loved ones that you'll be an attentive driver.
Distracted driving&mdash;including cellphone use&mdash;is to blame for an estimated 3,000 traffic deaths each year, according to the <a href="http://www.netreturns.biz/healthinfo/bouncelink.aspx?shortcut=highway" target="_blank">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</a>. Nearly half a million more people are injured due to driving distractions.
And drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-linked fatal crashes, according to the <a href="http://www.netreturns.biz/healthinfo/bouncelink.aspx?shortcut=cdc" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.
Defining distraction
Distracted driving is when a driver's attention strays from the important task of driving. The 3 main categories include: 
<ul>
 <li>Taking eyes off the road. </li>
 <li>Taking hands off the wheel. </li>
 <li>Allowing the mind to drift from driving. </li>
</ul>
Keeping distraction off the road
Texting is perhaps the most dangerous common distraction, since it involves all three types of distraction. But even a phone call using a hands-free device is dangerous&mdash;callers may pay more attention to the conversation than the road. 
Besides cellphone use and texting, other common driving distractions include: 
<ul>
 <li>Eating and drinking. </li>
 <li>Talking to passengers. </li>
 <li>Fixing hair, applying make-up or other grooming tasks. </li>
 <li>Reading a map or using a navigation system. </li>
 <li>Adjusting a music system. </li>
</ul>
To stay safe, turn off cellphones; never text; and don't allow passengers, music or other disruptions to steal your focus from the road. 
 
Pledge to drive cell free
You can <a href="http://nsc.org/pledge" target="_blank">pledge to your children or other loved ones</a> that you will be an attentive driver. Share your pledge on social media if you'd like.
<a href="http://nsc.org/pledge" target="_blank"><img alt="" width="250" height="140" src="https://www.netreturns.biz/Client_Files/azblue/CM/System/DDAM-focused-driver-logo.jpg"></a>
reviewed 12/23/2016

It can wait: Distracted driving isn't worth the risk