Montana Department of Transportation

Distracted Driving

Driving is an extremely complex task that requires cognitive and physical responses. However, because many driving skills become automatic with experience, some motorists feel comfortable engaging in distractions while driving. The cell phone has emerged as a particularly dangerous distraction, at several levels:

Physical (dialing or texting)

Visual (taking eyes off the road)

Auditory (hearing the phone ring)

Cognitive (engaging in conversation)

The choice to use a cell phone while driving, even hands-free, is estimated in several studies to increase your chance of a crash by 400 to 500 percent.

Other distractions listed on Montana crash reports include eating, smoking, adjusting controls, inserting tapes and CDs, and looking at maps.