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Health & Fitness

The Best Reason NOT to Respond to Your Weird Aunt's Text Message This Thanksgiving

Last minute trips to the grocery store before the Thanksgiving feast are bound to happen, and nowadays there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get texts from the family during the ride. If you decide to glance at one of the messages from your crazy Aunt Laurie reminding you to get her favorite schnapps … think again.

That little glance at your phone could lead to tragic consequences, considering 387,000 people were injured in car accidents involving a distracted driver last year, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The three main types of distractions are:

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·         Visual: Taking your eyes off the road

·         Manual: Taking your hands off the wheel

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·         Cognitive: Taking your mind off of driving.

Texting is the worst offense because it involves all three distractions. The impact from texting and driving is not as obvious as other issues – but the numbers are staggering.  Approximately nine people die and nearly 1,100 are injured every day, according to the NHTSA.  It’s no wonder forty-one states currently have a ban on text messaging for all drivers – in California, the ban on texting for all drivers is a primary law, which means an officer can ticket you for the offense without any other traffic violation taking place.

Reading or sending a text message while driving is equal to drinking several glasses of Aunt Laurie’s schnapps before the ride home. Yeah, I said it’s the same as throwing back a few shots before you leave the store!

Texting while driving diminishes your reaction time so much that it’s like being legally drunk, according to a study done by the University of Utah. And the numbers get even worse for drivers enamored with smartphones, because they are 23 more times likely to be involved in a collision than attentive drivers.

The benefits of leaving the phone alone when you’re driving are pretty obvious, but there are some financial advantages, too. Fewer accidents lead to lower auto insurance rates. And who doesn’t want to save money on auto insurance. In fact, many companies will give discounts to safe drivers. Mercury Insurance, for example, offers good driver and accident free savings that could save you a few hundred dollars a year.

Here are ways to prevent distracted driving and you might be surprised to learn there are more tips to avoid distractions than just ignoring your aunt’s text message.

Bud Smith

Smith Insurance Services, Inc

P.S. Sign Mercury’s pledge to not text while driving. It’s a pledge to not only keep the roads safe, but to keep you safe, too.

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