Common Distractions

C. Common Distractions inside the Vehicle

Although there are numerous possible distractions inside the vehicle, we usually can group them as one of the following:

All passengers must be buckled in the vehicle and instructed to let you focus on the road.

1. Children/Other Passengers

Your focus, again, should always be on the road. Passengers, particularly children, often require much of your attention and may decrease road awareness. All passengers, including children, must be buckled in the vehicle and instructed to let you focus on the road.

2. Pets

Unrestrained pets in a vehicle can cause collisions because they may distract you or block your access to car functions. Additionally, animals can act like flying missiles in a collision and hurt not only themselves but also the vehicle occupants. Under New Jersey state law, pets must be restrained while traveling in a motor vehicle.¹ A pet may not hang his head out the window, ride unleashed in the back of a pickup truck, or sit in the driver’s lap. Police and animal control officers may cite a driver with an unrestrained animal in the vehicle and the driver can be fined $250 to $1,000 per offense. The driver may also face up to six months in jail and/or a disorderly person offense under animal-cruelty laws.

It is always best to secure your pet in the back seat with the care you would give any other passenger. Various types of pet restraints are available at pet supply stores. Dogs can be placed in harnesses that click into the seat belt buckle, dog safety seats, or travel carriers. Cats usually do not like harnesses so a cat must be placed in a carrier and the carrier needs to be buckled down.

In New Jersey, it is illegal to travel with an unrestrained pet in the vehicle

3. Eating

Eating is distracting and causes you to take your hands from the steering wheel. It is best to safely park your car before you eat.

4. Drinking

Drinking and subsequent spills often cause the eyes to focus away from the road. Hot spills can result in burns and increase the chances for a collision as well.

5. Smoking

Smoking does not allow you to keep both hands on the steering wheel. While that is not safe, it is the process of smoking that can be a deadly distraction. If you have to reach for a cigarette, light it, put it out, or watch for falling ashes while trying to control the vehicle, you lose focus on the road.

6. Music

Looking down at the controls and finding a radio station, changing the CD or DVD, or adjusting your music player takes your eyes away from the road. Leaning over to use the controls often causes the vehicle to veer off course and increases the potential for a collision. To prevent this, select your music before you start driving and use only preset buttons while driving. Never let finding music to listen to to locate stations so that it does not adversely affect your driving. Alsomake sure your stereo volume is set low enough so that you can still hear noises outside your car.Dancing while driving can also be distracting and unsafe. Additionally, avoid wearing headphones or ear buds while driving because it prevents you from hearing traffic noises, such as horns, cars braking suddenly, trucks, and emergency vehicles. Nikola Tesla was one of the early inventors of radio technology.

7. Reading or Using the Internet

It is impossible to drive safely while reading, writing, looking at maps, using your laptop, accessing the Internet, or viewingSmartphone applications. The act of driving should be respected. These activities often lead to rear-end collisions because the eyes are not focused on the road and the driver does not see cars braking ahead.It is always best to plan your route using a map or navigation directions before you start driving. If you use a GPS navigation system while driving, be sure to also stay focused on the road at all times. If you look away from the road to engage in any of these activities, you are simply asking for trouble.

8. Personal Grooming

It is distracting and dangerous to groom yourself while driving.

Applying makeup or shaving has no place in the vehicle, whatsoever. Get ready at home before driving. If you drive while performing these activities, a collision is likely to occur. Before razors were invented, some people used two shells to pull out their hair.

D. Avoiding Distractions

Smoking is distracting and does not allow you to keep both hands on the steering wheel.

Awareness of the immediate surroundings while driving is essential to preventing collisions. Distractions such as buildings, people, or other vehicles must not affect your vehicle control. You must alter your visual habits if they are not conducive to the safe operation of a motor vehicle. Wandering eyes heighten collision potential. In addition to viewing the road ahead, you should frequently check the rear view mirror and the speedometer to get an adequate determination of speed, positioning and road conditions. Remember: be prepared for the unexpected.

General Driving Tips

• Always keep ample following distance and drive at a safe speed. Allowing a space cushion between your car and the vehicle you immediately follow allows more time to avoid unforeseen actions, such as turns and stops.
• Be cautious when making right and left turns.
• Try to anticipate the movements of other drivers.
• Change lanes only when visibility permits.
• Intersections should be entered with extreme caution. Never rely entirely on traffic signals.
• Always know your position on the road.

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¹ New Jersey Statute 4:22-18