The definition of what might be termed a distraction highlights the ease with which any driver can become distracted. One definition for what could be a harmful action is this: Any activity that takes the driver’s eyes or mental focus off of the road. An alternate definition would be this: Any task that has diverted the driver’s attention.
Types of diversions that can somehow tug on the driver’s attention:
• A visual diversion: One that causes the driver to look away from the road.
• A manual diversion: One that pushes the driver to take his or her hands off of the vehicle’s steering wheel.
• A mental diversion: One that causes the driver’s mind to wander away from the task of paying attention to what is happening on the road.
The time span in a distraction
None of the three diversions takes place for a long period of time. Still, any one of them can have deadly consequences. Any one of them can reduce the amount of reaction time available to the driver affected by the mind or eye-diverting word or action.
For example, suppose that some object has found its way into the middle of the road. Maybe it fell off of a truck, or maybe it was put there for a good reason. Anyway, the driver has no reason to assume the road that he or she is on contains such an object. Hence the driver’s speed does not show evidence of any plan to stop or change direction.
Suddenly, the unanticipated object comes into view. Maybe an undistracted and experienced driver could quickly maneuver around the thing that has obstructed what should be a clear path. Of course, a distracting influence would prove disastrous in the same situation. The driver would not have time to react, and would probably hit the obstruction.
The argument against the ability to multi-task
A distraction does more than divert a driver’s eyes and mind. It also impairs his or her judgment. That is because the brain can focus on only one activity at a time. When it gets hit with a diverting influence, the brain misses some of the information that it has received, in the form of nerve signals.
The fact that some information has not reached the brain becomes most obvious if the driver is executing a difficult maneuver, such as trying to get out of a tight parking space. At that point, the driver’s nerves are on edge, and any distracting influence would probably annoy him or her. Later, that same person might feel differently about a distraction.
Hence that same person might actually use a cell phone while driving, or light a cigarette while driving. Both of those activities can be categorized as manual diversions. Still, in the driver’s mind, neither of those two activities seems capable of distracting the driver on the road and are a cause of most accidents. The injuries sustained in such situations lead to the plaintiff filing a claim for compensation which are usually represented by the personal injury lawyer in Cornwall.