Driving is a job that requires the ability to pay attention to several things at once. Our ability to drive safely depends on a focused effort. Distraction—taking eyes, hands or mental attention away from driving—is the single most common contributing factor in motor vehicle crashes and near crashes. North Dakota has an all-driver ban on texting and driving. The fine is $100.

The most common driver distractions are:
1. Cell phone use—hands-free is just as distracting as handheld
2. Reaching for a moving object inside the vehicle
3. Rubbernecking: looking at something outside the vehicle
4. Reading
5. Applying make-up

The most dangerous distraction is texting while driving…yet it continues to increase as more and more people have smartphones and rely on them to keep connected. While all distractions can endanger drivers' safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction; manual, visual and cognitive. When you are behind the wheel of a vehicle, you should focus on one thing - driving!

In 2014, the Bismarck Police Department issued 75 citations for texting and driving. 59 have been issued in 2015 so far.

Things to remember about texting and driving:
• Texting drivers have slower reaction times than drunk drivers.
• Texting multiplies the chance of a crash 23 times.
• Sending one text at 55 mph is like driving blind the length of a football field.
• Texting drivers are 6 times more likely to crash than a drunk driver.

Please visit www.ndcodefortheroad.org for prevention information, statistics and ways you can spread the message.