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19:02:20 EDT    Wednesday, May 16, 2012     
The above video is footage of in-car driving distractions. [Please note: this video contains no audio]

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   Heads Up Driving Week

What is Heads Up Driving Week?

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and AAA are concerned about your safety on our nation’s roads.  Together we called for a week when drivers put away distractions and focus only on the road.

Multi-tasking is a fact of life – we all face constant demands for our time, and we all have to juggle more than ever before. Unfortunately, many people try to multi-task while driving, which is NEVER a good idea. In fact, a recent study by the University of Utah has reconfirmed that our brains are simply not wired to multi-task. Being distracted behind the wheel for even just a few seconds greatly increases your chance of a crash. Distracted driving contributes to up to 8,000 crashes every single day – the facts speak for themselves.

A majority of drivers – 92% – agree that texting or emailing while driving is unacceptable and 80% support laws against reading, typing or sending text messages or emails while drivingFlipped Vehicle, according to the AAA Foundation’s 2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index, yet a quarter of drivers reported texting or emailing while driving in the previous month. This “do as I say, not as I do” attitude is one of the greatest obstacles preventing us from improving safety on our roads. Our attitudes, and more importantly our driving behaviors, must change if we are going to stop crashes and fatalities caused by distracted drivers.

You can help by committing to be a distraction-free driver any time of year.  Please – try it for a week – do it for life. Share the message, spread the word, and help us create safer roads for everyone.  Below are 10 quick and easy ways to minimize distractions to keep yourself and all of us safer on the roads.

  1. PLAN AHEAD

  2. STOW ELECTRONIC DEVICES

  3. PREPARE KIDS AND PETS FOR THE TRIP

  4. SATISFY THAT CRAVING OFF THE ROAD

  5. STORE LOOSE GEAR AND POSSESSIONS

  6. GET YOUR VEHICLE ROAD-READY

  7. DRESS FOR SUCCESS BEFORE YOU GET IN THE CAR

  8. GET YOUR BRAIN IN THE GAME

  9. EVALUATE YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR FROM THE 'OTHER' SIDE OF THE ROAD

  10. USE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE YOU A BETTER DRIVER

 

Heads Up Driving Week Brought To You By:

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Logo AAA