Vlogging: The latest distracted driving threat
Leading up to Distracted Driving Awareness Month, Erie Insurance explores the dangers of vlogging behind the wheel.
If texting and driving wasn’t enough of a hazard, now insurers have to worry about their customers recording themselves while they’re behind the wheel. This vlogging-on-the-go trend, which has been popularized by TikTokers, influencers and social media conspiracy theorists alike, often consists of the vlogger addressing their followers via a camera mounted in their vehicle. Ahead of April, which is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, Erie Insurance has partnered with a distracted driving expert to raise awareness about this dangerous trend.
“The research is absolutely clear. Hands-free is not safe,” Paul Atchley, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida, who has been studying distracted driving for more than 20 years, said in a release from Erie. “It’s your brain that’s the problem, not touching a phone. And we know when your brain is engaged by a phone call – even a hands-free one – the risk for a car crash increases.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, eight people are killed in the United States each day in crashes involving a distracted driver, and one in five of those fatalities are pedestrians.
With so many young people — many of whom are just beginning to drive — looking to these online personalities for inspiration, people who engage in this risky form of content creation may be setting a dangerous example for their impressionable fans.
“I hope that social media influencers who vlog while driving realize that they are influencing a portion of the population that is more likely to die in a car crash than the next three causes of death combined,” Atchley stated in the release. “So not only are they demonstrating bad behavior, they’re demonstrating it to a group of individuals who already are at high risk.”
Currently, 24 states and Washington, D.C. prohibit using handheld phones while driving, and 36 states and D.C. have laws against any cellphone use for novice drivers. However, no states have a specific law that prohibits a driver from recording themself with a dash-mounted camera while operating their vehicle.
To prevent distracted driving, Erie offered the following advice:
- Put your cell phone in safe driving mode to reduce distractions, and be sure to set your GPS location (if needed) before you begin driving to avoid needing to look at your phone.
- Listen to a radio show or podcast to keep your mind alert.
- Consider carpooling with another experienced driver.
- Play verbal road games like “I Spy” to stay alert and entertained while also keeping your eyes on the road.