Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car collisions in America, with the number of fatal accidents rising all across the nation. According to preliminary data from National Safety Council, as many as 40,000 died in motor vehicle accidents in 2016, a six percent increase over 2015 that rose due in part to distracted driving.
April is the National Safety Council’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month, something we take seriously at L.A Truck Driving School. Our truck driver training program is aimed at decreasing your chance of distracted driving, ensuring safety on the road.
For more info on distracted driving, watch the video below:
What Is Distracted Driving?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is the act of driving while another activity is diverting your attention from the road. Common distracted driving activities including talking or texting on your cell phone, eating or drinking, playing with the radio, or adjusting a GPS navigation system.
Many people don’t even realize they’re driving while distracted. They just complete their “minimal” tasks while on the road. But if your eyes aren’t on the road, you can hit an obstacle at a moment’s notice, causing chaos along the way.
For more on truck driver training, check out the blogs below:
- 6 Advantages Of A Truck Driving Career
- Frequently Asked Questions: Earning Your Class A Commercial Driver’s License
Truck Driver Training & Distracted Driving
Proper training from a truck driving school is all but required to earn your Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), teaching you all the basics of trucking. Thankfully, it also helps prevent distracted driving among truckers.
Driving a truck is a lot different than driving a car, and for a newcomer, it can be a seriously intimidating task. Many need to learn how to drive with a truck with manual transmission, and get used to driving with big cargo or trailers hitched to their trucks. There are so many differences between driving a commercial truck and driving an average car, and new drivers can easily get distracted by the differences between a truck and a car.
However, truck driver training helps aspiring truckers get used to their vehicles. A great teacher knows how to make a new driver feel at ease behind the wheel, providing the support they need to get used to driving without feeling overwhelmed. And when they don’t feel overwhelmed, drivers don’t get distracted on the road.
Education Prevents Distracted Driving
There’s no denying that distracted driving is a nationwide problem. And the worst part is, many don’t take it seriously. They think that it’s perfectly fine to send a text message while behind the wheel, or to play around with the radio while driving. But when you aren’t paying attention to the road, you’re almost guaranteed to get into an accident.
At L.A Truck Driving School, we’re dedicated to preventing distracted driving. Our truck driver training programs educate aspiring truckers on everything they need to know to earn their CDLs, putting them at ease while operating a variety of commercial vehicles. We provide our students all the tools they need to succeed, ensuring they understand common road hazards and how to avoid them. And for Distracted Driving Awareness Month, we urge you to consider how safe your driving habits really are. For more information on our truck driving school, contact L.A Truck Driving School today.