The State of Illinois recently held their first-ever Distracted Driving Awareness Week.
Texting or using a phone while driving is the number one cause of distracted driving and quadruples your risk of crashing.
But the Naperville Police Department is reminding motorists that the cell phone isn’t the only distraction behind the wheel.
“It also entails eating food, we see people groom themselves, shave, put make-up on. We observe people reading books, newspapers, so it’s much more than using a cell phone, and it can be deadly when you’re distracted in driving,” said Derek Zook, Sergeant with the Naperville Police Department.
In 2013, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration reported 3,100 fatalities in which distracted driving was an issue-and those numbers have grown every year since.
To stay safe, the police department recommends following a few simple tips. Those include planning ahead when using GPS, allowing a passenger to make calls or texts, securing pets in the vehicle, and if driving out of state, familiarize yourself with local laws.
AAA.com also has a list of safe driving tips for people of all ages to follow when driving.
Naperville News 17’s Alyssa Bochenek reports.
