April is Distracted Driver Awareness month. Distracted driving is anything that diverts your attention away from your driving. This could be talking on a cell phone, texting, eating, changing the radio station, or adjusting the temperature controls within your vehicle.

According to the National Safety Council, driving and cell phone conversations both require a great deal of thought. When doing them at the same time, your brain is unable to perform well. For example, it's nearly impossible to read a book and have a phone conversation. While driving, multitasking often results in crashes due to delayed braking times and not seeing traffic signals. They also state that cell phone-related crashes are under-reported because people don’t want to get into trouble.

Texting while driving is against the law in the state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma law requires drivers to give their full attention to the road. According to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office: Texting while driving is a primary offense, which means that a law enforcement officer can pull drivers over and issue a citation solely for texting while driving (the fine is $100).

The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office reports that there were 7,904 accidents caused by distracted driving in our state in 2021; 44 were fatal and 178 resulted in serious injury. Most crashes occurred within the age group of 15-29 years old.

National numbers - Car crashes involving distracted driving cause thousands of injuries and deaths each year. In 2021 distracted driving caused 3,522 fatalities across the U.S., according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Authority (NHTSA).

NHTSA’s "U Drive. U Text. U Pay." campaign reminds drivers of the deadly dangers and the legal consequences – including fines – of texting behind the wheel. Forty-eight states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, have passed laws making it illegal to text while driving. From April 3-10, you may notice an increase in police enforcing texting laws and reminding drivers of the dangers.

Since 2007, drivers 16 to 24 years old have been distracted by devices at higher rates than other drivers, but we're all at risk for distracted driving accidents.

Consider these tips for safe driving:

• If you must send or receive a text, pull over to a safe location and park your car first.
• If you have passengers, appoint a "designated texter" to handle all your texting.
• If you can’t resist the temptation to look at your phone, keep it in the trunk.

Additional information regarding distracted driving and related data can be found here:
https://www.nsc.org/
https://ohso.ok.gov/
https://www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/distracted-driving