Don’t be driven to distraction
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2019 (1545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
I consider myself a good driver. However, we all get distracted now and then.
Recently, I was talking to my passenger when he said, “What are you doing?” and I realized I was proceeding through a red light.
I was shocked. Needless to say, it was a humbling experience, and I’ve taken it as a warning. Thankfully, in this case there was no traffic. A sobering fact is that one in three deaths from vehicle collisions in Manitoba is because of distracted driving.
There are the obvious distractions, such as driving and using your cell phone, which is against the law, but what about other things that keep our attention from the road?
Take for example, the electronic billboards around the city. They are big, bright, and designed to make us look at them with messages changing every 10 seconds or so. One that recently caught my eye is the huge billboard next to the Nairn overpass. The first time I noticed it was when travelling westbound at night. My eyes were just drawn to this large bright light.
The billboard is taller than the bridge itself. It’s on the left but at a point on the road where the road curves to the right, opposite to the direction in which you should be looking.
There are myriad other distractions, such as children demanding your attention from the back seat, pets in the car getting antsy, adjusting the radio, putting on makeup, eating and drinking. I’ve even seen people with books on their laps while driving.
So how do we deal with all these things that take our minds off the task at hand? To quote from the from the Manitoba Public Insurance publication Focus on the Road: “The most important thing to think about when driving is… driving”. To read the document, visit https://www.mpi.mb.ca/en/PDFs/Distracted-Driving.pdf
If you are able to multi-task at your job, you may be rewarded but, when driving, there is only one task and that is keeping your eyes on the road.
If you need to deal with children or pets, pull over. Turn your phone off and let voicemail pick up any calls. Don’t eat while driving. When you see those billboards begging for your attention, just ignore them.
Do everything you can to prevent distractions, and learn to tune out those you can’t control.
So, next time you are tempted to watch the dancing pizza guy at the corner of Plessis and Regent, try to ignore him. But by all means enjoy his antics if you are the passenger.
Suzanne Hunter is a community correspondent for Transcona.