ROANOKE (WSLS10)-- April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and local police departments are working to keep drivers focused on the road.
The Roanoke City Police Department is setting up in the Downtown Market area today, demonstrating everything from the dangers of distracted driving to DUI prevention and brain teasers. The event will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The different demonstrations, like a distraction booth and DUI goggles, will show the public just how dangerous it can be when you're not fully focused on the road.
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In 2014, there were more than 3,100 deaths nationwide related to distracted driving. Another 431,000 people were hurt in distracted driving crashes.
When it comes to distracted driving, many people think texting and cell phones are the biggest problems, but police say that's not the only issue on the road. Traffic Safety Officer, Rick Clark, says he was driving home from work last week when he saw a woman combing her hair while driving. He says she had the visor down, looking in the mirror and was using both hands to fix her hair while cruising through an intersection.
"If I was on duty at that time," says Officer Clark. "Her hands, I could actually see both of her hands off the wheel. At that point, it's reckless driving and she has no control of the vehicle. So at this situation, I could have pulled her over right then and there because she had no control of the vehicle."
Distracted driving is something that puts not only the driver's safety at risk, but all of the other cars around them as well as people walking or biking along the road.
There are even bigger issues for new drivers, who aren't used to making those quick decisions on the road yet. If they're not fully focused on driving, their reaction time and decisions can be very delayed.
"Parents, you need to educate your kids about the dangers of distractions," says Officer Clark. "That's why there's limited passengers up to a certain age. It's all to minimize the distraction and keep teens safe. That's one of our problems, young kids are dying because of distracted driving."
One restriction to cut down on distractions for teens limits the number of passengers in the car. Drivers under the age of 18 are only allowed to carry one passenger under 21 in the vehicle, unless a parents is in the car as well. They're also not allowed to use cell phones on the roads, even hands-free devices.
Although there are special laws to specifically protect teen drivers, police say there's a lesson for everyone about distracted driving safety.
"There's nothing more important than driving your car, so when you're out there-- pay attention. That phone call can wait. That text can wait," says Officer Clark. "Pull off to the side of the road somewhere if you must take the call and lets all make the roads safe in Virginia."
Police say it's easy to be distracted by the phone buzzing or ringing in the console, so if the noise is too distracting and tempts you to check your phone, switch to the Do-Not-Disturb mode while driving. Adults can also use hands-free devices like speaker phone or Bluetooth. If you're driving somewhere you've never been before, prepare ahead of time and enter the address into your GPS before you get on the road.