Everybody has seen ads in the Chippewa Valley, as well as the Twin Cities metro area, discouraging texting while driving in recent years, but were you aware that there are many other distracted driving behaviors that can lead to disaster? And these are expensive mistakes, because they tend to lead to accidents, whether they involve just your car, or worse, another car.
- Grooming – brushing teeth, putting on makeup, or just looking in the mirror on the back of your visor to see if there’s anything in your teeth.
- Reading – reading a map, reading a book, reading directions on the back of an envelope, or reading that memo from work.
- Watching Videos – watching anything other than the road and traffic around you is going to cause problems, but trying to watch videos may be the worst.
- Eating – a study has shown that the worst culprits are soup, tacos, chili dogs, hamburgers, and coffee or soda.
- Adjusting the radio or CD player – some steering wheels have controls for this, but even those cause distraction.
Consequences of Distracted Driving
You may “just” get a ticket for weaving because you are distracted. The ticket won’t be cheap, and will include additional surcharges, which are used to fund a number of Wisconsin projects and programs. In addition to your ticket, the Wisconsin DMV will assign anywhere from 2 to 6 points for your violation. If you earn 12 points within a one year period, your Wisconsin driver’s license will be suspended, or even revoked.
Finally, if you actually do get into an accident, and it is judged to be your fault (which it will if you have been distracted by the following actions, texting, talking on the phone, or any other distractions), your insurance premiums are bound to increase. This means that not only do you have costs at the time of your violation or accident, but you will have continuing costs for years to come. This is in addition to the cost to your psyche if you have injured somebody, just to pry that cap off your soda, or select your favorite song on the CD you’re listening to.
As you are working with your Baldwin Woodville Insurance Services agent on drawing up your policy, be sure to discuss what the consequences of various types of tickets and other violations could be. Then, make sure everybody on your policy knows and understands them, and knows not to drive while distracted, in order to avoid the many serious consequences.