Hey, There.  How ya feeling today?  If you are sad, you might want to catch a ride from someone else because a new study from Virginia Tech says driving while sad can increase your chances of an accident by 10x.

How many sad people do we have in Lawton and how can we make them happier???  We need to figure it out becuase driving while sad is more likely to result in a crash than being tired or using a cell phone.

Along with sad -- you should not be feeling angry or agitated.  That probably means my husband can never drive again.  Being tired makes a crash 3x more likely to happen while talking on a cell phone only doubles the risk of an accident.

How do researchers know this?  They used in-car video cameras to monitor driving habits.  Here are some other things that made an accident more likely to happen:

  • Reaching for an item raised the risk by 9x
  • Picking up a cell phone raised the risk by 6x
  • Texting or browsing the phone raised the risk by 6x
  • Dialing a number raised the chance of an accident by 12x
  • Chatting with a passenger had very little risk
  • Dancing to music in the car had no impact

What doesn't increase the risk of a crash?  Talking to your kid in the backseat.  You actually are less likely to be distracted (precious cargo on board).

So, now we know that before we get in the car -- we need to buckle the seat belt. . . . put away all distractions . . . and put on some happy music.  That will increase the chances you actually get where you are going. . . .

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