Driving is a serious responsibility that takes serious concentration. When you’re behind the wheel, anything can happen at any minute, so it’s important to pay constant and careful attention to the road in order to stay as safe as possible.
Technological advancements have taken distracted driving to almost epidemic proportions, and a recent report found that men can be dangerously distracted by phone calls from the opposite sex.
Although women are more likely than men to make phone calls while driving, men are more likely than women to answer those calls. Eighty four percent of men reported answering phone calls from significant others while behind the wheel, compared with 77% of female respondents.
Men are also more likely than women to take calls from family, friends, colleagues, and even unknown numbers while driving. These findings comport with long standing data showing that men have the most dangerous driving habits of the two sexes. In fact, men “account for more than twice as many crash deaths as their female counterparts each year.”
Because younger drivers cause more accidents than older drivers, young men are statistically the most dangerous people on the road. New distractions like GPS, text messaging, and cell phone usage has made younger drivers even more of a hazard in recent years. Drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 are two times more likely to text while driving than the national average. One in 10 of the same demographic admits to posting to social media while driving, and 22% of them admit to browsing social media sites while driving. That’s a lot of people doing a lot of things besides focusing on the road.
Distracted driving causes accidents every day and ends lives every year. No matter how old you are, or what gender you are, do your best to minimize distractions while you are behind the wheel. Stay committed to your friends, family, and community to never text and drive and only take phone calls on an emergency basis. Set your ringer to silent so you won’t be tempted to pick up a call.
Consider a helpful ringback phone application like Listen that automatically tells callers and texters that you’re busy driving. If you know someone is driving, don’t text or call them and risk becoming a distraction. If someone texts you from the road, don’t respond until you know they are somewhere safe, and keep phone calls with drivers short. If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a distracted driver, contact a personal injury attorney to discuss your case. Our car accident attorneys serve clients throughout the Chicago area, including Aurora, Elgin, Hinsdale, Joliet, Naperville, and Waukegan.
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