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Keep Spring Break Safe

EMS/Trauma Providers Urge You to Just Drive!

CITY – As schools and universities take their spring breaks, many families and students are taking to the roads, and local EMS, hospital and trauma providers are concerned that distracted driving may mar the fun. “When you take a road trip, it’s easy to become distracted with conversation, talking on your cell phone, eating or adjusting the volume,” said NAME, title.“Even short distractions can lead to an accident, which may injure loved ones or friends riding with you. As the driver, you can choose to focus on driving, keeping your vehicle safe and watching out for others,” said LAST NAME.

“Name of Hospitalor RACis participating in the Texas EMS, Trauma & Acute-Care Foundation’s campaign Just Drive! Distracted driving is anything that can divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving, and as health care providers, we see the consequences. We urge drivers to stay focused, and drive safely,” said LAST NAME.

Distracted driving comes in three different forms:

  • Cognitive distraction – “Have you ever driven somewhere and don’t know how you got there,” asked LAST NAME. “That is cognitive or mental distraction. Talking to another passenger or being preoccupied with personal, family, or work-related issues are some examples. Even drivers listening to their favorite podcast or radio station are at risk; the audio can take drivers' focus away from their driving and overall surroundings.”
  • Visual distraction – “This occurs when a driver looks at anything other than the road ahead,” LAST NAME said. “Drivers who check the kids' seat belts while driving are visually distracted. Electronic devices for the car, such as GPS devices and portable DVDs/digital entertainment systems, also distract drivers.”
  • Manual distraction – “Manual distraction happens when the driver takes one or both hands off the wheel for any reason,” LAST NAME explained. “Some common examples include eating and drinking in the car, adjusting the GPS or trying to get something from a purse, wallet or briefcase.”

“Our society values multi-tasking,” said LAST NAME. “When people perform two cognitive tasks simultaneously (like driving and talking on a phone), a resource constraint exists in the brain, reducing the available resources for each individual task,” he/she explained. “Brain imaging scientists liken this to plugging in an iron and a hairdryer at the same time, causing brownout.”

The research shows that when brains are overloaded by two cognitive tasks, people switch attention – without recognizing it – and make one task “primary” and the other “secondary.”LAST NAME added, “Cognitive attention to driving can become secondary to a phone conversation, and that impairs driving. So, people really can’t multi-task, they just switch attentionand choose what to process.”

“Keep spring break safe. Just drive when you are behind the wheel,” said LAST NAME.

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