Distracted driving is the hidden reason behind self-inflicted road crashes. Here is a list of such distractions one needs to avoid to travel safely on Indian roads:
Visual Distractions
1. Watching movies/ music videos while driving a car: This problem is all the more persistent in today’s age with the passengers in a shared taxi actually creating a nuisance for the driver for the purpose of their own entertainment. Use earphones or adjust your screen – but, ensure that your driver is not distracted!
2. Being too distracted by the navigation system (which can also be classified as a manual distraction because of your propensity to keep tweaking the route maps) is a major issue with the cab-drivers and other new drivers of today. The best way out of this mess is to understand the route before starting and keep the audio on for important turns – so that technology can do its job, and we can do ours.
3. “Rubbernecking” – Yes, there is a term for this curiosity. It is when you slow down to get a glimpse of what has happened in a roadside crash. This creates a domino effect on other cars following you; which can not only cause traffic snarls but also threaten road safety in general. Let’s just be curious if we have to be a good samaritan, otherwise, let’s not create further road safety threats in the place.
4. Paying excessive attention to road-side distractions like pedestrians or flashy billboards: This also seems to be a problem with autos which are looking to get their passengers while driving by pedestrians. With the hand of a pedestrian that goes out waving for an auto to stop results in the auto-rickshaw often coming to an abrupt halt and creating a traffic mess.
5. Not paying attention to visual road-signs which talk about a “school ahead”, “construction work in progress” or even an “accident prone zone” has often also proven to be fatal. As road users, we often claim that enough signages are not visible and put in the right places; but, we need to ask ourselves if we are following the ones that are staring at us anyway!
Manual Distractions
6. Leaving for office in the morning with your unconsumed coffee and sandwich. We have noticed this with all our family and friends – even done it ourselves a few times. With at least one hand off the steering wheel, how much stability will we be able to maintain in peak hour traffic is anyone’s guess. Have an un-eaten breakfast? Book a cab instead!
7. Adjusting mirrors, putting seat-belts on or using other equipment inside while driving: This is often a result of not setting and putting in place the basic safety and driving-support equipment before starting the journey. Often, drivers and passengers do not wear seat belts until they see a police check-point – and this results in a sudden and hasty body movement by them in an attempt to not be challaned!
8. Using the mobile and related applications while driving: This is as much a visual distraction as a manual distraction. On first look, this seems more like a behaviour which afflicts the millennial generation of today – given the mushrooming of apps such as Snapchat, Instagram and now even Tik-Tok. But, look around, and we will realise that even our parents and grandparents are equally affected by this malaise. No amount of campaigns on “don’t text and drive” will have any impact, if we ourselves don’t give our own life the importance it deserves.
9. Putting your make-up and adjusting your hair while having stopped at an intersection. We often think this is a harmless exercise, but, once the traffic signal goes green and the cars start honking – it often leads to the driver of the car panicking and doing something silly. I am sure we have all seen a panicked driver hitting the accelerator in an attempt to escape this self-created traffic jam.
Cognitive Distractions
10. Speaking, with the earphones on while riding a bike/ driving a car: This is not just about you having done something like this, but, if you being a pillion and having allowed your rider to do this. This results in one not just being mentally distracted, but, also unable to hear actual sounds on the road around you – a potentially disastrous cocktail of mistakes. Given the excessive cases of over-speeding recorded, it is always best to be equipped to hear the traffic around us.
11. Playing really loud music in a car with closed windows: This results in not being able to hear outside noises/ horns properly. Quite the same as sticking earphones while riding a bike, this is all the riskier late in the night when you go out with friends to have a good time with loud music blaring inside the car and an AC blasting away inside the closed box. Not just as a driver, but, also as a passenger we carry a certain responsibility to ensure that our driver has the least distractions in the journey that lies ahead.
12. Journey fatigue leading to non-alert driving: This problem is more acute in cases where a long journey is taken by the driver without adequate rest and stoppages. This problem exacerbates all the more with the truck-drivers of our country; who keep travelling for hours and sometimes days without taking adequate breaks in between. Of course, having the relevant policies which define rest times is necessary. But, shouldn’t the contractors and aggregators too be leading by example?
13. Being “lost in thought” while at the driving wheel: This problem seems self-explanatory. Often we leave our homes stressed or having fought with someone, and get on the steering wheel with enough cognitive distractions to distract us from the journey ahead. Don’t sleep over a fight, they say. Then why drive after one?
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