Technology is making it easier to give everyone a full view of your life, but there’s a right time and place to share. The Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would like to remind drivers that the right place from which to send life updates is never behind the wheel.
“If you are behind the wheel we want you to give your full attention to driving,” Kansas Highway Patrol Captain Joshua Kellerman said. “Everything else can wait when you are driving.”
Apps such as Periscope and Meerkat might provide the platform to live stream a latest adventure, but doing so while behind the wheel means that driving isn’t being given full attention.
“According to the National Safety Council, one in four car crashes involve cell phone use,” KDHE Secretary Susan Mosier said. “People don’t realize how distracting cell phones are when they are driving. Just hang up and drive.”
Distracted driving can take many different forms, from changing the channel on the radio to checking phone messages. It’s important to know that writing, sending or reading communications on electronic devices behind the wheel is illegal in Kansas.
“Studies have shown that we aren’t able to multi-task and that our brain just switches the task we are concentrating on,” KDOT Traffic Safety Manager Chris Bortz said. “Texting while driving is a significant distraction because it involves manual, visual and cognitive distractions all at the same time.
“You wouldn’t want the driver in the next car distracted,” Bortz said. “If your attention is not on the road where is it? If you are distracted you are not driving. Just drive.”
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