You can have your eyes on the road and still be driving while distracted.  That’s according to CAA Saskatchewan spokesperson Christine Niemczyk who defines distracted driving as anything that takes your eyes and mind off the road.

For instance, CAA considers using Bluetooth for a phone call as distracted driving even though your eyes are looking forward.  Niemczyk adds that texting and calling aren’t the only culprits for distracted driving with a cell phone.

It also includes navigation with a GPS system, checking out your music apps or monitoring social media.
A CAA poll found that most young adults know that distracted driving is wrong, but 1 in 6 admit to having done it.  From all age groups of drivers, 47 per cent of Canadians admitted they have typed out or used the voice-to-text feature to send a message while driving.

CAA’s advice is if you are driving, put your phone away, because it only takes a second to be distracted, and if a driver texts, they are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash or the cause of a nearby crash.
CAA’s most recent campaign is called Unplug And Drive (#UnplugAndDrive).