Advancements in technology have not only affected internet speed, wireless mobility, and personal entertainment; they have made begun to influence the ways in which drivers handle their cars too. The voice activation systems that are now being put into many new models of cars make it easy for drivers to say the song they want to hear and the car will play it. But what happens when the stereo system plays the wrong song? Then the hands come off the wheel and the driver chooses the song manually.
Tracy Samilton from NPR describes distractions while driving like the spinning plates on the old Ed Sullivan tv show. She says “Lets say you’re driving and there’s a kid in the back seat crying. That’s distracting….Let’s say you’re also late. That’s another spinning plate. You’re checking a map on your GPS for directions, and traffic is getting heavy; plate, plate. And if you get too many things going at once, those plates will start to fall.”
A report was published back in April by Bridgestone America’s which shows that young people just don’t believe they are poor drivers or that they are driving distracted. Young drivers claim that many times they see their parents driving a certain way (many times distracted) and they think that because their parents are driving that way then it is okay. Other young adults also claimed that they are better drivers than their parents. What is most important to keep in mind is that regardless of what you may be doing while your driving, if your two hands are not on the wheel and your two eyes are not on the road then there is something you could be doing safer.