At 70 miles per hour, you travel nearly 105 feet every second. Focus your eyes on something other than the road ahead – say, a billboard, an accident scene, a mirror, the “infotainment” screen on your dash – and you’ll cover that 105 feet while driving blind. Let your eyes linger for five seconds, and you’ve covered nearly a tenth of a mile, without seeing what’s in front. That’s the power of distractions.
These days, the use of a cellular device while behind the wheel is a deadly distraction. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, your crash risk is 23 times higher when you text while driving. That chirping from your phone, however, is compelling. For many, it’s a call that must be answered immediately. Simply reading a text distracts you from safe operation. Responding back makes it worse.
The Terrors of Texting
Texting involves all three of the recognized forms of distraction. You’re distracted visually, because your eyes are focused on your phone as you read an incoming text or type out a response. You’re also distracted manually or physically. Your hand(s) are engaged in communicating and aren’t fully engaged in operating the vehicle. Finally, you are distracted mentally, reacting, perhaps emotionally, to the message received and composing an effective response.
Cell phones are used for so many functions these days that texting is just one of the ways they can distract. Apps for gaming, betting, and other purposes compete for attention. Even apps that help drivers do the job, for tasks like routing, GPS, finding fuel or a parking space, checking weather, all can be distractions.
Dashboard Distractions
In fact, ANYTHING can be a distraction, if you allow it to become one. Computerized multi-function screens are commonplace in modern vehicles and can be a wonderful use of technology. For example, selecting a radio station used to be a process of pressing one of five or six preselected buttons, pushing a “seek” button or cranking a tuning knob until an acceptable noise came from the speakers. Now, LED screens show the station call letters, the type of programming, and even who is currently speaking or performing. Some offer a list of similar stations you can choose from. Keeping an eye on the road ahead while cranking a tuning knob? That’s a relic from the past.
Cycling between the radio, GPS, vehicle status indicators and other available information involves a learning process and the time to input commands into the system.
Mirror Motivation
Mirrors are vital to the safe operation of a commercial motor vehicle, but they can also be a distraction if you’re so focused on what’s happening behind that you aren’t focused on the area in front. Professional drivers learn to identify other motorists who might be a problem and to anticipate their actions. A vehicle weaving between lanes behind you might well present a hazard when it reaches your vehicle, but another hazard could be developing in front that you won’t see if you’re too focused on the view to the rear.
Some safety programs offer advice on how often you should scan your mirrors, but the correct answer is that you should scan them often enough to know what’s happening around your vehicle while maintaining your focus on the road ahead. In heavy traffic, it will be necessary to scan more often. On a dark, deserted highway, it’s not necessary to check all your mirrors every five seconds to verify that it’s still dark behind your vehicle.
Snack Attacks
Professional drivers spend a good portion of their lives behind the wheel, and most are focused on driving efficiently. That could mean eating a snack or meal, or getting a fresh beverage, without wasting time finding a parking space. Holding a sandwich in one hand while steering with the other doesn’t seem difficult, but what happens when the bag of chips falls to the floor? If your eyes, and hands, are devoted to finding whatever dropped, you may soon have a much larger mess than spilled potato chips to deal with.
Mindful Driving
Mental distractions play a large part in professional driving, too. Sitting behind the wheel provides many hours to stew over whatever problems come to mind. An argument with a spouse, a bad call to dispatch, a stop from an unfriendly law enforcement officer, or even the actions from another motorist can occupy the mind for hours as incidents are dissected and decisions are made about what could, or should, have been done. In some cases, thoughts lead to a perceived need to deal with the problem, often with another text or phone call.
Driving Under the Weather
Illness can present both physical and mental distractions. No one is at their best while they are sick. Medications may help but can cause other problems like drowsiness. Everyone handles illness differently, but it’s important to make good decisions about when to stop for a break and when to park it until you feel better.
Dissuading Distractions
If ANYTHING can be a distraction, if you allow it to become one, then the smart move is to not allow a situation to become a distraction. That’s sometimes easier said than done, but it must be a part of the professional driver’s skillset. If an event or communication renders you unable to focus on driving, a break is in order. You might use the time to deal with the issue, or simply to get your emotions under control, but it’s important to understand when your ability to drive safely might be compromised and take action.
Technology has helped remove some distractions. Bluetooth equipped headsets, for example, make it possible to make and receive phone calls without physically touching the cell phone. The mental distraction remains, however. It may be better to limit phone calls, letting callers know that you’ll return their calls once your driving shift is over and your vehicle is safely parked.
The list of possible distractions is far too long to include every potential scenario in a brief article. It helps to remember that just as ANYTHING can become a distraction, it can only do so if you let it become one.
Cliff Abbott is an experienced commercial vehicle driver and owner-operator who still holds a CDL in his home state of Alabama. In nearly 40 years in trucking, he’s been an instructor and trainer and has managed safety and recruiting operations for several carriers. Having never lost his love of the road, Cliff has written a book and hundreds of songs and has been writing for The Trucker for more than a decade.
This gives helpful tools to be safe for yourself and others traveling around you.