Understanding the “Big Three” Distractions That Can Lead To A New Haven Auto Accident

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and so it is a great time to talk about how significant distractions to you while you are behind the wheel of your car or truck can lead to a New Haven auto accident and cause you harm.

Experts who study and report out on distracted driving generally put the types of distractions that can get in a driver’s way into three buckets. These are classified as the “Big Three” distractions that everyone should know about, understand and do everything in their power to avoid. The truth is, anything that distracts you while you are behind the wheel can lead to devastating impacts on your well-being, but these three encapsulate most of the distractions that you might face and they are critical to understanding how you can be a safer driver.

Visual Distractions: Taking Your Eyes Off the Road (Even for a Glance). This category encompasses anything that causes you to divert your gaze away from the path of travel. While seemingly brief, even a two-second glance away from the road at 55 mph means you’ve traveled the length of a football field blindfolded. Common visual distractions might include looking at your phone for directions, observing an accident scene on I-95, searching for a specific house number on a residential street, reading a billboard advertising a local business, or even being captivated by the scenery along the coastline. The danger lies in the fact that you cannot react to sudden changes in traffic flow, pedestrians stepping into the road, or unexpected obstacles if you are not visually focused on driving.

Manual Distractions: Taking Your Hands Off the Wheel and Compromising Control. Manual distractions involve any activity that requires you to remove one or both hands from the steering wheel. Maintaining a firm grip on the wheel is essential for controlling your vehicle, especially during unexpected maneuvers or in adverse weather conditions common in Connecticut, like sudden rain showers or icy patches in the winter. Examples of manual distractions include reaching for a dropped phone or food, adjusting the car’s climate controls, eating a breakfast sandwich while navigating morning traffic, applying makeup in the rear view mirror before arriving at work, or even tending to children or pets in the backseat. Any time your hands are not primarily focused on steering, your ability to react quickly and safely to hazards is significantly diminished.

Cognitive Distractions: Letting Your Mind Wander and Losing Focus on the Task of Driving. Cognitive distractions are often the most insidious because they may not involve any overt physical action. This category refers to when your mental focus is diverted from the act of driving to internal thoughts or external conversations. Even with your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, if your mind is preoccupied, your reaction time and awareness of your surroundings are severely impaired. Examples of cognitive distractions could include engaging in a heated phone conversation about work while driving, mentally rehearsing a presentation for a meeting, being engrossed in an emotional argument with a passenger, daydreaming about weekend plans, or even driving while excessively fatigued. This “mind wandering” can lead to missed traffic signals, delayed braking, and a general lack of awareness of potential hazards in your driving environment.

Keeping these “Big Three” distractions in mind can go a long way to making sure you are keeping your focus entirely on the road in front of you and on making sure you are maintaining complete control of your vehicle without limiting your ability to drive safely. It is important that you consider all of these distractions and avoid them as best as you can.

Engaging in any one of these distractions can lead to a significant increase in your ability to avoid a New Haven auto accident and stay safe while driving. If you are focused on the road in front of you and you are keeping two hands firmly on the steering wheel at all times you will be in a much better position to get yourself to and from your destination safely and without incident.

In the event that you do get injured you may need to speak with an experienced attorney. Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will review your situation and work with you to protect your long-term interests.