PUT THAT PHONE DOWN: FOUR THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU AS A RESULT OF DISTRACTED DRIVING

In the modern world of cell phones and podcasts, distracted driving has become all too prevalent. Adults ages 21 to 24 make up the bracket of individuals with the highest traffic-related injury rate per 100,000 population, and too many of those injuries can be avoided by practicing safe driving. Unfortunately, it's too easy to ignore best practices until something terrible happens to yourself or a close friend or family member.

Inattention on the road can result in a multitude of incidents, some extremely lucky outcomes or some not-so-lucky outcomes. Car accidents, going to trial, negligence suits, and repairs are just a few of the things that can happen to you or your family as a result of distracted driving. It should be obvious that distracted driving is an enormous problem, especially for the already injury-prone 21 to 24-year-olds who make up that bracket of traffic-related injuries, but let's take the time to dive into just four of the potential outcomes that can arise out of distracted driving.

CAR REPAIRS

Sometimes the side of your car scrapes a telephone pole. Sometimes you back into a dumpster. Sometimes you slam into another car because you were distracted. Car repairs are an inevitable part of the life of owning a car, but those avoidable incidents that result in cosmetic damage and minor inconveniences not only waste your money, but they also can lead to bigger problems with your vehicle. And if you are lucky enough to escape with your life after an accident, a totaled car will raise your insurance rates astronomically, and you'll have to find another vehicle.

BRAIN DAMAGE

The human brain is a rather delicate organ. Although medical professionals don't fully understand how the brain works, they understand how damages affect the brain's ability to work as it should. It's extremely possible to undergo brain damage as a result of an accident due to distracted driving, and that brain damage can have numerous effects on your day-to-day life. Tasks that you take for granted, such as moving, eating, even speaking, can be torn away, recovered through grueling hours or physical therapy or not recovered at all.

WHIPLASH

Whiplash may seem like a minor price to pay after surviving a car accident, and for some people it certainly is, but whiplash often goes untreated, and the effect that whiplash can have on posture, strength, and your brain's ability to function correctly can prove to be quite difficult to overcome later on in life.

FATALITY

The worst case scenario in any distracted driving case is a fatality. Whether the driver, passenger, family member, friend, or individual struck due to distracted driving is the person affected, the depth of legal issues that arise as a result are overwhelming, never mind the weight of the guilt that falls upon the shoulders of an individual that happened to survive. Life can be snuffed out in an instant, simply due to carelessness.

As the saying goes, "hindsight is 20/20." It's easy to backtrack and wish that things in the past played out differently, but what individuals don't tend to realize is preventing those things from happening is often just as easy. Distracted driving stops with a simple act: putting down a phone, leaving the radio alone, or planning out a travel route beforehand are all simple acts that help to minimize the root of distracted driving and prevents the possibility of people getting hurt.