Distractions affect most people multiple times throughout the day. You may find yourself sitting at your desk contemplating what you will have for lunch or how you will spend your weekend when you should be working on a report. Perhaps you sneak a quick peek (or several) at your phone or social media throughout the day to check in with friends or family. Whatever the distraction, letting your mind wander can cause setbacks.
Not only can distractions impact how much work you complete or how well you attend to a task, they could also put you and others in danger. In particular, distracted driving can easily lead to car accidents that may result in injuries.
Types of distractions
Three main categories of distractions exist in terms of how the distractions relate to your body. Those three categories include:
- Visual distractions — These distractions mean that you take your eyes off the task of driving in order to look at something else. You may glance at your phone, look at your kids in the back seat or even try to find your sunglasses. While this may seem harmless, the longer your eyes are off the road, the higher the risk of causing an accident.
- Cognitive distractions — With cognitive distractions, your mind begins to think about or engage in activities that do not relate to driving. Having a conversation with a passenger, talking on your phone and daydreaming could all fall into this category.
- Manual distractions — This type of distraction involves taking your hand or hands off the steering wheel. You may do this without thinking in order to adjust the radio or air conditioning or to reach for a drink or your cellphone.
While one of these distractions can pose considerable hazards, you may find it noteworthy that texting while driving involves all three types of distraction. Your eyes come off the road to look at the phone screen while your hand works to type out the message, and your brain concentrates on what you want to send. Because it falls into all three categories, texting and driving is a substantial danger.
Distracted driving accident
Even if you try your best to remain undistracted while behind the wheel, other drivers may easily give in to distractions. Unfortunately, their distraction could lead to an accident in which you end up suffering injuries. If you have found yourself in this type of situation, you may have legal grounds to file a personal injury claim against the distracted driver who caused the accident in order to seek compensation.