ACTIVITY: “TAKE A LOOK IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR” interactive SELF-Assessment
When in the office, the ability to multitask is a desirable skill. However, when we’re driving, it’s important to focus on the task at hand. There are so many skills used to safely drive a car, that in reality, driving itself is multitasking. Adding non-driving tasks to the already-demanding load of coordinating your eyes, ears, hands, body, feet and mind in safely operating a vehicle, is never a good idea.
Ask employees to take a moment to “look in the rear-view mirror” and assess their own potential for distracted driving by completing the interactive Rate Your Risk Distracted Driving Self-Assessment. Let them know the results are for their eyes only, no one will ask to see them, so they can feel comfortable giving honest responses.
download the interactive Rate Your Risk Distracted Driving Self-AssessmentTool pdf (161kb) »
Suggested Daily Messages
Multitasking a Myth?
The ability to multitask—do several things at the same time— is a myth, according to researchers. People don’t do lots of things simultaneously. Instead, we switch our attention from one task to another extremely quickly. This means we’re not driving AND eating, talking on the phone, fixing our hair. We’re driving OR eating, OR talking on the phone, OR fixing our hair. What if you’re doing something besides driving (when you’re driving) at the moment someone or something darts out in front of you? DRIVE FOCUSED. DRIVE SMART. GET HOME SAFELY.
Safe Driving is Good Work
When you’re behind the wheel, you must coordinate the actions of your hands, feet, eyes, ears, and body movements. At the same time, you must decide how to react to what you see, hear, and feel in relation to other cars and drivers, traffic signs and signals, conditions of the highway, and the performance of your car.
These decisions are typically made close to other vehicles and must be converted quickly into action—brake, steer, accelerate, or a combination of all—to maintain or adjust your position in traffic. Do you still think it’s a good idea to add non-driving tasks to this list? DRIVE FOCUSED. DRIVE SMART. GET HOME SAFELY.
