In Texas, using an electronic device while driving is illegal, including drafting a message or pressing “send” on a message you wrote beforehand. This is because using a device like a cellphone can be a major distraction to drivers and is considered a reckless act that puts others on the road — and in your car — in danger. In 2021, 1 in 5 crashes on Texas roads was due to distracted driving, resulting in 431 deaths and 2,932 serious injuries. To honor April as Distracted Driving Awareness Month, we wanted to define distracted driving and the simple tricks anyone can use to keep their focus on the road. What is distracted driving? Distracted driving includes any activity that takes someone’s focus away from driving. And a distraction doesn’t have to be physical; it can be as simple as letting your mind wander. In fact, there are three types of distracted driving. No. 1 Visual: This type of distracted driving is when you take your eyes off the road. It includes using a cellphone, looking in the mirror, searching for something in your car, staring at an accident or landmark, and even looking at a passenger. No. 2 Manual: A manual distraction occurs whenever your hands leave the steering wheel. Common manual distractions include eating food, adjusting the radio, typing on the phone, reaching into a bag, or handing someone something. No. 3 Cognitive: This kind of distraction occurs whenever you take your mind off the task of driving. It includes daydreaming, thinking about an argument you might have had, thinking about your day at work, and succumbing to road rage. How can you avoid distracted driving? The easiest way to prevent yourself from distracted driving is to take care of all the tasks you attempt to accomplish behind the wheel before you ever drive off. So, before you leave your driveway or the parking lot, adjust your mirrors, select your music, eat your food, and send your texts. That way, there’s no need to divert your attention anywhere else. If a text message or phone call is too tempting to resist, you can block your phone from receiving notifications while driving. Some cellphones already have this feature, or you can download an app to help. STAY FOCUSED TO SAVE LIVES What Everyone Should Know About Distracted Driving
It’s March — the month of spring-cleaning! While many often think of scrubbing the windows or washing the floors, spring is the perfect time to reorganize your house into a more efficient space. And no, you don’t need fancy storage furniture or shiny color-coded bins to get your home in order. There are many small things you can do just by using clever tricks and throwaway household items. So, try these organization hacks to tidy your home this month and beyond. Keep your matching bed sets together by using a pillowcase to store them. Organize your linen closet by slipping the flat and fitted sheets into one of their respective matching pillowcases (fold the other pillowcase in there as well!). This way, you’ll never have to hunt for the matching sheets again! Use an old disinfecting wipes container to store your plastic bags. If you like to reuse plastic shopping bags at home, finding a way to store them can be a pain. Next time you run out of Clorox Wipes (or another generic equivalent), rinse the inside of the container with water and store your plastic bags there. Then with the container’s built-in feeding lid, you’ll be able to pull the bags out one by one as you need them. Label messy cords with tape. As working from home and numerous consumer electronics (shut up, Alexa!) become more prevalent in our lives, the cords connecting these devices can become tangled and hard to differentiate. By wrapping a piece of painter’s or washi tape around a cord, you can create a tag to write what that cord is attached to. So, no more guessing which cords you’re unplugging! Add some chalkboard paint to your jars. Sometimes, we have no idea what’s inside the jars in our pantry. Maybe it’s flour, or maybe it’s powdered sugar. Sometimes, it can be neither! To solve this, you can buy a little jar of chalkboard paint at your nearest craft store and paint squares on your jars (or other unlabeled containers around ADD ORGANIZATION TO YOUR SPRING- CLEANING LIST! 4 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR HOUSE TIDY
the house) to write with chalk what’s inside! The best part is you can erase these labels and change them based on the jar’s contents. These hacks will help you give your spring-cleaning a major boost by keeping your home neat and tidy for the rest of the year!
You can use whatever distracted driving solution you’d like as long as you keep your eyes on the road and drive safely!
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