Many car accidents happen because the people behind the wheel are distracted while driving. A lot of people have tried to multitask at one time or another while driving but it is time we recognize how dangerous the behavior is. Hundreds of thousands of victims are injured every year in car accidents involving distracted drivers and the number is rising. However, many victims don’t know what to do after such an incident. If a distracted driver has injured you or totalled your car, you should seek medical assistance, report it to the police and contact a lawyer immediately. More importantly, car accident attorneys will help you get the fair compensation you deserve. Distracted driving must stop and we all need to work together to curb the problem. In order to know how to permanently stop it, we need to know how we are being distracted. Some causes of distraction while driving are as follows:

Calling and texting while driving
According to the National Safety Council, 26% of car accidents involve phones.

Adjusting controls or music
You could be suffering from the hot sun and want to adjust the temperature, or you may want to change the song. Pushing a few buttons here and there may look like small actions but they will take your attention away from the road for those seconds or minutes. Small or not, the actions may be the difference between reaching home safely or getting into an accident.

Talking to passengers
It is absolutely normal to talk to passengers in the car while driving. However, paying attention to the road comes first. Looking at a passenger while driving appears the right thing to do, when in fact it is the worst thing because it will divide your attention and jeopardize your safety as well as that of your passenger.

Applying makeup
At times, you may not have enough time to get ready before getting into your car. Sadly, many drivers put those finishing touches while driving such as putting on makeup, adjusting ties, combing hairs or other grooming actions. These actions can easily cause automobile accidents.

GPS
Setting up GPS routes or glancing down to look at the routes while on the road is dangerous. In order to safely use GPS, ensure it is placed where you can easily see it or increase the volume to listen to directions without looking at the screen.

Zoning out
Sometimes you may daydream while driving on a familiar route that you have taken for years. You may find yourself pulling into your destination without remembering the details of the journey such as hitting red lights or whether the route was busy. Some people have normalized driving on autopilot without their minds really being there and this could be dangerous to you or the car next to you.

Conclusion
Everyone wants to reach their destinations safely. In order to achieve this, we need to curb distracted driving by limiting the causes. Eyes should always be on the road and the hands-on the wheel at all times when driving and the distracted driving accidents happening yearly will definitely reduce with time.