![\"distraction\"](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/distraction.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHowever, I had done something similar a few days previously.\u00a0 Not because I was trying to text and drive, though. I got distracted (and nearly crossed the centre line, etc.) thanks to suddenly spotting a spider that looked like one of the nasty ones crawling around on the sweatshirt sitting on top of the centre console beside me and I was trying to squash it. Now, they may be able to outlaw texting while driving but that\u2019s one thing that they can\u2019t outlaw easily (\u201cExcuse me, madam; we\u2019ve just got to check your car for deadly spiders.\u201d)<\/p>\n
It also got me thinking about other things that can distract drivers but can\u2019t be cracked down on in the same way that using phones and texting can.\u00a0 I mean, anything can pull a driver\u2019s attention away at a crucial moment.\u00a0 Here are my top five driver distractors (that don’t include things you choose to do like check makeup or eat):<\/p>\n
- \n
- Children in the car.\u00a0 Some children just do not grasp the idea that even though Mummy is sitting down and looking relaxed when she is driving, she cannot look at the lovely picture you drew, open your drink bottle or put your shoe back on.\u00a0 Babies are the worst offenders because they don\u2019t understand and can start to scream, especially if Mummy is nowhere to be seen.\u00a0 The safety experts who say that children nine months old (the age where they go through major separation anxiety) should be in the back seat facing backwards need a reality check \u2013 a distressed child makes for a stressed driver.<\/li>\n
- Sound systems.\u00a0 Steering wheel-mounted audio controls for advancing, repeating and adjusting the volume are all very well. However, fine-tuning the balance between bass, treble, left and right and so forth is a bit more fiddly.\u00a0 Changing CD doubly so.<\/li>\n
- Advertisements.\u00a0 They say it\u2019s more of a guy thing, but those ads showing bikini babes that are designed to catch the attention are put beside the road where people driving will see them.\u00a0 Tell me, guys, which would you rather look at? The road in front of you or a seriously photoshopped woman without a lot of clothing?\u00a0 Bit of a no-brainer in more ways than one.<\/li>\n
- Anything that insists on giving you instructions while you\u2019re negotiating tricky traffic. This can include a navigation system or a passenger with a map. At least you can tell the passenger to shut up while keeping your hands on the wheel.<\/li>\n
- Any type of animal in the car, especially the smaller ones that have more than four legs and bite, such as wasps, spiders, bees and mosquitos.\u00a0 They might be able to come in the window but can they find their way out again?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
They have come up with devices in some new safety conscious cars (such as the new Volvos <\/a>\u00a0that shut down the radio and the phone when the car detects that you\u2019re driving a bit more hectically and possibly need the distractions to a minimum. If only they could do something about the Top Five as well \u2013 although a good set of lungs can deal with #1: \u201cSHUT UP!\u00a0 It\u2019s busy here and I can\u2019t pay attention right now, OK???!!\u201d http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/offers-zaim\/migcredit-dengi-v-dolg.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the traffic safety boffins talk about driver distraction, they\u2019re usually talking about the perils of texting while driving.\u00a0 And they\u2019re pretty much right.\u00a0 I guess we\u2019ve all seen people having near misses because they\u2019ve had their eyes on the phone rather than on the road.\u00a0 Saw one on a main road the other day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2808"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12150,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2808\/revisions\/12150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}