Handling a Phone While Driving

Are you the type of person that likes to multitask? Mobile phones are a great tool for the habitual multitasker. Cell phones can help you accomplish a lot. If you spend a lot of time in your car it can be hard to put them down while driving. While there is no disputing the upside, the distraction they cause can have catastrophic results.  While the only way to completely remove the distraction is to not use them at all here are a few ways to minimize the distraction they may cause:

A hands-free microphone or speaker system is one way to use your cell phone while keeping your hands free to be on the wheel of your automobile. This will not eliminate the distraction but it may help keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

If you are driving with a passenger you can always let them handle your cell phone calls while you’re driving. They can relay messages to you and serve as an intermediary for the person making the call. The flipside of that is if you feel you need to talk on the phone, pull over and let the passenger be the driver for a little while. Likewise, if you are expecting an important call and it has to be taken, make sure to bring someone with you so that you may handle the call.

Never carry on any conversation that is stressful, difficult or could otherwise add to the distraction. Never talk on the cell phone in heavy traffic or during hazardous weather conditions. If you have to make or receive a call in such conditions, pull over and park in a safe area first.

By setting different ring tones for various callers (or types of callers) it can help you determine when to answer the phone or not.  Setting certain numbers as high priority can help you determine which calls to take (please pull over first) and which to let go to voice mail.  Even better, some phones / apps allow you to automatically send certain numbers to voice mail, while letting those you specify through.

A cell phone can be a valuable tool for highway safety enabling a person to report a crime, a bad accident, life-threatening emergencies, or drunk drivers. When reporting an emergency situation on your cell phone, it is best to pull over so you or other drivers will not be at risk. Make sure “911” is programmed into your phone for reporting emergencies. Cell phones will still connect to 911 even if no signal can be procured.

There is no denying that the use of cell phones while driving is distracting to the driver and does cause accidents.  Our official recommendation is not to do it, but if you plan on ignoring this we hope that these tips can help you limit the distraction.