SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KERO) — According to Trip Advisor about a quarter of Americans are traveling this Easter weekend. The majority will drive making the increasingly-dangerous roads a little more crowded.
The message is simple. Stay focused behind the wheel. Interacting with a cell phone makes you 3-and-a-half times more likely to get in an accident.
The Governors Highway Safety Association says on average a driver spends 5 seconds looking at their phone. If you're driving 55 miles an hour that's like driving the entire length of a football field blindfolded.
"Not to be afraid to speak up in the vehicle if you see mom or dad or sibling that's picking up their phone while they're driving say 'hey, I want to be safe. I know you want me to be safe. Please put that phone down," said Pam Shadel Fischer with the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The number of people using devices in cars had come down before the pandemic but distracted driving still claims an average of nine lives each day. Injuries are around 400,000 each year. And distracted crashes are at more than 900,000.
