Connecticut car insurance quote: driver distraction, a main cause ...

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DISTRACTIONS

If you’re heading to a grocery store a couple blocks away, you’d better buckle up and put down your cell phone. Statistics show that driver distraction is one of the main causes of accidents among drivers 18 to 34 years old. In fact, in 2007, 80 percent of the crashes and 65 percent of the near-crashes involved some kind of driver distraction.

In the same year, 77 percent of the drivers involved in an accident were less than 15 miles from home, and more than half of these drivers were less than five miles away from their houses. High-accident intersections are especially dangerous, and most cities have a few. If you live in an accident-prone area, insurance companies will assume your accident risk is higher and charge you accordingly. You can reduce the risk of accident just by avoiding distractions.

If you’re lost in thought or talking on a cell phone, then you’re not paying attention to the road. Even if you’re looking straight ahead, you may not really see what’s ahead of you. Fatigue can also lead to this type of distraction. If you find yourself spacing out, pull over, get out of the car for a bit, and wait till you regain your focus before driving.

Digging for a CD or browsing a play list is considered distractions. Any task that takes more than a couple seconds to be concluded may cause an accident. Dialing a number or testing on your cell phone is also not good.

If your radio is too loud, you’re talking on your hands-free cell phone or the DVD player is blaring, than you’re in trouble. Loud, consistent noises inside your car contribute to driver distraction. Turn them off or turn them down. Way down!

If you need to adjust your seat or your mirrors, do these things before you are in motion. If you try to adjust a side view mirror while driving, that means you’re not looking at the road ahead of you. It is also a very a good idea to plug in your car charger before you start driving.

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