In today’s slang flexing has nothing to do with going to the gym and showing off your muscles. To “flex” is simply bragging about things that you think are cool. Social media and the internet have made our world smaller and have given people a platform to flex about all kinds of weird, unusual, bizarre, or even questionable things. But one thing we should be flexing on is when someone texts and drives.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration distracted driving facts that aren’t anything to flex about include:
• Approximately 32,000 people have died in crashes involving distracted driving from 2013-2022.
• In 2022 alone, 290,000 people were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers.
• Drivers who use hand-held devices while driving are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
• Drivers between the ages of 25-34 were responsible for the highest percentage of distracted drivers involved in fatal car crashes in 2022.
Distracted driving is all about choice and almost all crashes involving distracted driving are avoidable. What choices are you doing to limit distracted driving? Ask yourself these questions:
• Are you putting your phone on silent and out of reach to avoid the temptation to check it while driving?
• If you need to make a call, are you using handsfree technology?
• Do you avoid eating and grooming yourself while you are behind the wheel?
• Do you create playlists for your music or type in GPS locations before you begin driving to avoid the need to mess with your phone while you are enroute?
• Are you modeling anti-distracted behavior for your children and other passengers in the vehicle with you?
• Do you have discussions with your loved ones about the importance of limiting distractions while driving?
If we all work on our own behavior and flex on good driving behaviors we can work together to limit distracted driving and make our roads safer for all.
In 2024 in Iowa, 261 people have been killed in traffic crashes. That’s an increase of six since Friday, October 4. In Iowa in 2023, there were 377 traffic-related deaths.