Summer Safety Tips to Avoid Distracted Driving!

As summer is in full swing, the team at your Chicago area BMW dealership, Fields BMW Northfield, understands that you’re eager to hit the road for a summer vacation! Our team also understands that with so little time in each day, sometimes people try to multitask while heading down the highway. Recent studies have shown that driver inattention, from either fatigue or a driving distraction, is a factor in nearly 80 percent of crashes. That means four out of every five crashes occur due to distracted driving. In order to combat that problem, our team has some tips to avoid being distracted while behind the wheel.

First of all, there are three types of distracted driving: visual, which takes your eyes off the road; cognitive, which takes your mind off of the road; and manual, which is when you take your hands off the steering wheel. Some distractions can be a combination of two or even all three of these distraction types. Here are some distractions to avoid:

• Eating and Drinking: This can be both a manual and visual distraction. We understand that eating on the go helps save time, but when you’re heading out on a road trip, we recommend penciling in some time to stop for food so you can avoid this distraction.
• Grooming: We know that sometimes you’re running late and that it’s tempting to do a quick shave or apply your makeup on the way to your destination, but this takes your eyes and hands off the task at hand.
• Fatigue: Driving while sleepy ups the crash risk by four- to six-times the normal rate. Long trips can be tiring on both you and your passengers so schedule in some rest stops so you can stretch your legs and get the blood flowing. 
• Cell Phone Use: This is one of the most dangerous distractions out there today as it is the distraction trifecta. It increases risk of crash by three times. To put it in perspective, looking at your phone for five seconds is the equivalent to driving the length of a football field at 55 mph all while wearing a blindfold. Don’t do it!

To learn more about what you can do about distracted driving or to check out some vehicles that offer driver-assistance technologies that help you stay connected while staying focused on the road, head on down to Fields BMW Northfield to speak to a member of our team and check out our new BMW inventory now!