When you’re driving along and a phone call comes in over the Bluetooth in your car, should you answer it? The short answer is no. Hands free features in cars may seem a lot safer than using your phone and taking your eyes off the road, but truth be told hands free features can also lead to Connecticut auto accidents.
Distracted driving of any kind is a problem that needs to be addressed when you’re behind the wheel. Certainly, things like texting while driving or searching social media sites while driving are very distracting and can cause major problems for drivers, but you don’t have to be looking down at your phone to be distracted.
Hands free technology was developed and added to cars to allow drivers to continue to communicate safely while driving to their destination. The only problem with that is the fact that just the simple act of speaking to someone else on your phone while driving is considered distracted driving. Anything that takes your attention, either physical or mental attention, away from driving is something that can be distracting and cause problems.
The best thing you can do is to stow your phone away and turn off Bluetooth so it doesn’t connect to your car's hands-free technologies. This can be hard to do, but if you do it before you go out on the road you will be keeping yourself and your passengers safe while you drive and you can get any calls that come in when you arrive at your destination.
Stowing your phone will not only stop the temptation of answering it when someone calls you, but it will also help you avoid any other hands-free technology that may be distracting as well. Take for instance new “smart assistants” that are available in some cars now, things like Siri and Alexa, interacting with these A.I. powered voices can be just as distracting, if not more distracting than speaking with an actual human on the other end of a phone call.
Anything that takes your eyes or mind off the main purpose you have when behind the wheel (driving to your destination safely) can cause you to get into a Connecticut auto accident and can be detrimental to your safety and the safety of your passengers. Before you use the hands-free technology in your car, make sure you are safely stopped and are not taking your attention away from the road.
Distractions while driving should be limited, but they do happen, and if you are injured in an accident that is caused by a distracted driver, you may want to contact an experienced attorney to review your case. Our attorneys can speak with you about how to protect your long-term interests.
