Distracted Driving and Mining Safety
This article focuses on the dangers of distracted driving.
Use the statistics in “Why It Matters” to make all employees aware of just how dangerous distracted driving is.
Reports on motor vehicle fatalities have gone down in recent years because newer cars have better safety features and more drivers and passengers are using seat belts–the number of traffic deaths caused by distracted driving from the increased use of electronic gadgets has gone up! Driving Distractions at Mines.
What is distracted driving?
It is any non-driving activity that takes the driver’s attention from the primary task of operating the vehicle and thus increases the risk of crashing.
There are three main types of distraction:
- Visual–taking your eyes off the road
- Manual–taking your hands off the wheel
- Cognitive–taking your mind off your driving
Remind your employees of these common activities that can distract a driver:
- Using a cell phone
- Eating, drinking, or grooming
- Talking to passengers
- Reading, including map reading
- Using a PDA or GPS
- Watching a DVD
- Changing the radio station, CD, or MP3 player
- Texting
Note: Using a cell phone while driving delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. And talking with another passenger can also be distracting; however a passenger may warn the driver if there is suddenly a dangerous situation on the road.
Give employees practical tips on how to focus on their driving. Advise them to avoid distracted driving by following these safety practices:
Make only emergency cell phone calls while actually driving.
Have a hands-free phone and speed dialing when you have to make an emergency call while on the road. For texting or a routine cell phone call, pull over to the shoulder.
Drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting.
At 40 km/h per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road.
Drivers who text are more than 20 times more likely to get into an accident than nondistracted drivers.
[Content kindly provided by Moolmans Mining]
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