6 Driver Distractions: Which Are You Guilty Of?

Fumbling to change a CD, a quick make-up check, battling the wasp that just rocketed into your car — your eyes are everywhere but on the road.

Distracted driving happens all the time, and sometimes it’s not your fault. But the fact remains: your chances of getting into a car accident skyrocket when you’re not paying attention.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are experts on the subject. Together with the Virginia TechTransportation Institute they’ve been closely studying what causes accidents for years. And they’ve just released new findings that call out the very worst, most-likely-to-cause-an-accident driver distractions.

Are you guilty of one of them?

1. Drowsiness

Your head jerks back and you realize you’ve been snoozing… and you’re still driving. Maybe you just checked out for a fraction of a second, but your drowsy driving just put you at 4 times greater risk for getting into an accident.

2. Cell phones

Cell phone use might not be most likely to cause an accident, but it’s the most common distraction by far. The likelihood of getting into a crash or near-crash goes up 3 times while dialing, listening or talking.

3. Reaching for a moving object

Your mind is most off the road when fumbling around for the bottle of water rolling around at your feet. Your risk of a crash or near-crash shoots up 9 times when you try to get a hand on an object moving in your car.

4. Looking at an external object

There’s a lot going on around your car, but try not to gawk. When you stare at off-road action you increase your risk 3.7 times.

5. Reading

Your car is not the place to multi-task. Reading while driving increases your risk for an accident by 3 times. Hand over map-reading duties to a passenger, and save the reading for road signs.

6. Putting On Make-Up

No big surprise here. When you’re trying to see if your lipstick’s straight in that teeny little mirror in your visor you won’t see that car coming. Your risk goes up 3 times when putting on make up while driving.

The study also reveals it only takes 3 seconds or less of distracted driving to cause an accident.

“This important research illustrates the potentially dire consequences that can occur while driving distracted or drowsy,” says acting NHTSA Administrator Jacqueline Glassman. “It’s crucial that drivers always be alert when on the road.”