April is "Distracted Driving Awareness Month,” and THV11 hopes to shed as much light on safe driving as we can.
Local law enforcement and the Thompson Driving School in Little Rock say distracted driving is not just a problem for new drivers, but experienced ones too.
“It's a big problem. I see it every day,” said James Rainbolt, a driver.
Rainbolt drives daily for work, and says it's easy to spot a distracted driver on the road.
“They swerve a lot. They hit their breaks a lot,” said Rainolt.
Sydney Watkins works on the road, getting directions through a hands-free device.
“I just use my earpiece and avoid the temptation,” said Watkins.
Brock Thompson, owner of Thompson Driving School, says hands-free is still not the best option.
“We like to think that the hands-free allows us to do more things, but when your mind is preoccupied, it's not concentrating on driving,” said Thompson.
Several times people think of 'distracted driving' as texting or talking on our phones only. However, there's a lot of other things in a car that distract us just as much, like adjusting the radio or searching for something on your touch screen, or turning around and having a conversation with someone in your car, or if you're eating, the process of unwrapping your cheeseburger. This takes your eyes off the road and your mind off driving.
“They feel like multi-tasking in the vehicle is where they can make up some of their time,” said Thompson.
In the last year, Arkansas State Police, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Little Rock Police handed out a total of 1,277 distracted driving tickets.
“The temptation from people is that 'it's never going to happen to me,” said Thompson.
Between Thompson Driving School and law enforcement, they made a change to Arkansas' driving curriculum in January of 2016.
All students will learn about consequences of distracted driving in the manual, with follow-up questions added to the exam.
“They added an additional 40 pages, in a lot of details,” said Thompson.
Thompson Driving School recommends driver's education in-class experience at 13 years old. This gives your teen two years of education before the license test at 16 years.
Local law enforcement and the Thompson Driving School in Little Rock say distracted driving is not just a problem for new drivers, but experienced ones too.
“It's a big problem. I see it every day,” said James Rainbolt, a driver.
Rainbolt drives daily for work, and says it's easy to spot a distracted driver on the road.
“They swerve a lot. They hit their breaks a lot,” said Rainolt.
Sydney Watkins works on the road, getting directions through a hands-free device.
“I just use my earpiece and avoid the temptation,” said Watkins.
Brock Thompson, owner of Thompson Driving School, says hands-free is still not the best option.
“We like to think that the hands-free allows us to do more things, but when your mind is preoccupied, it's not concentrating on driving,” said Thompson.
Several times people think of 'distracted driving' as texting or talking on our phones only. However, there's a lot of other things in a car that distract us just as much, like adjusting the radio or searching for something on your touch screen, or turning around and having a conversation with someone in your car, or if you're eating, the process of unwrapping your cheeseburger. This takes your eyes off the road and your mind off driving.
“They feel like multi-tasking in the vehicle is where they can make up some of their time,” said Thompson.
In the last year, Arkansas State Police, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Little Rock Police handed out a total of 1,277 distracted driving tickets.
“The temptation from people is that 'it's never going to happen to me,” said Thompson.
Between Thompson Driving School and law enforcement, they made a change to Arkansas' driving curriculum in January of 2016.
All students will learn about consequences of distracted driving in the manual, with follow-up questions added to the exam.
“They added an additional 40 pages, in a lot of details,” said Thompson.
Thompson Driving School recommends driver's education in-class experience at 13 years old. This gives your teen two years of education before the license test at 16 years.
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