Dear Mr. Dad: This may sound dramatic, but I’m hoping you can help save my mom’s life. She’s constantly on her phone, talking or texting, while she’s driving. I’m only 13 and I’ve tried telling her to stop but she says she has it under control and says I should be quiet. She’s cut out some of your columns and stuck them on our refrigerator, so I know she respects your opinion . I can’t get through to her. Will you help?
A: Unfortunately, your mom is far from alone in using her phone while she’s behind the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that at any given moment, nine percent of all drivers are either on a call or texting. That may not sound like much, until you consider that distracted driving—which most often involves a cellphone—causes nearly 1.3 million car crashes, killing close to 5,000 Americans and injuring more than 400,000 every year. That makes distracted driving nearly as dangerous as alcohol and speeding.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are three types of distraction: visual (taking your eyes off the road), manual (taking your hands off the wheel), and cognitive (taking your mind off your driving). Let’s start with texting since it involves all three.
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