--- title: April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month - Tips to Be a Safer Driver description: Wickline Insurance Associates in Beckley, WV shares tips on how to not drive with distractions. Follow these tips. --- # April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month - Tips to Be a Safer Driver ## April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month - Tips to Be a Safer Driver - Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 lives were lost from distracted driving accidents. This increased 10% from 2018. What is considered distracted driving? Any time you cannot have 100% full attention to driving your vehicle is considered distracted driving. Behaviors can range from talking on the phone, texting, talking to a passenger in your vehicle, eating, brushing your hair, adjusting settings in your vehicle or playing with your vehicle’s GPS while driving your vehicle. Unfortunately, distracted driving is more common than it should be. Take this month to practice safe driving by eliminating any of the previously mentioned behaviors while driving. This will not only make you a safer driver, but keeps other vehicles on the road safer too. **Cell Phone Use** Cell phone use can be one of the most dangerous behaviors while driving a vehicle. Sending a text message while driving can take your eyes off the road for several seconds. Talking on the phone also creates enough distraction while driving. Here are some things to consider practicing this month – 1.) Keep your phone in the back seat when driving to avoid looking at it, texting or talking. You could also consider other areas of your car like your trunk or glove box. If the glove box is tempting, place farther away from you like the back seat or trunk. 2.) There are options to put a do not disturb setting on your phone while driving. This can help eliminate the distraction. 3.) Make phone calls or texts before or after driving your vehicle. 4.) If you are riding with a passenger, let the passenger be in charge of your phone for calls or texts. **Be Aware of Other Distracted Driving Behaviors** Do you find yourself eating in the car often? Grooming? Frequently fiddling with your entertainment system? Reaching in the back seat dealing with children? If you are guilty of these behaviors, how can you work to eliminate them? **Be a Good Role Model** Especially if you are a parent to children, you should demonstrate how to be a safe driver. Children see what you do and can easily follow in your footsteps. Cell phone use can be one of the most dangerous behaviors so practice never using your cell phone while driving. If you do not have kids, keep others you love accountable. Not only demonstrate safe driving practices while you are behind the wheel, but call out any of their behaviors you feel are unsafe while in the passenger seat. While our agents cannot teach out how to practice safe driving, we can shop to find you the best rate for your [auto insurance](/auto-insurance). Call our office for a free auto insurance quote. We’ll shop our carriers and provide you with several quotes to choose from. We’ll explain your coverage options too. ## Insurance Quotes Give us some info and we'll help you find the best coverage options. [Request a Quote](/quotes) ## Connect Online - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/WicklineInsuranceAssociates) - [Yelp](https://www.yelp.com/biz/wickline-insurance-associates-beckley-4) ## Testimonials You don't have to take our word for it. Check out what our customers say about us. [View Testimonials](/testimonials) **Start your quote online or contact our office to find out how we can help you find a policy that fits your needs.** [Start Your Quote](/quotes) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.wicklineinsurance.com/blog/2021/april-is-distracted-driving-awareness-month-tips-to-be-a-safer-driver#blogposting","url":"https://www.wicklineinsurance.com/blog/2021/april-is-distracted-driving-awareness-month-tips-to-be-a-safer-driver","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.wicklineinsurance.com/blog/2021/april-is-distracted-driving-awareness-month-tips-to-be-a-safer-driver#webpage"},"headline":"April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month - Tips to Be a Safer Driver","datePublished":"2021-04-13T23:39:00Z","dateModified":"2025-03-27T13:47:06Z","description":"Wickline Insurance Associates in Beckley, WV shares tips on how to not drive with distractions. 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