Hopefully, if you’re one of the millions of Americans who set New Year’s resolutions, your willpower is standing strong just a few weeks into the new year. But according to discoverappyhabits.com, of the 41 percent of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions, by the end of the year, only 9 percent of them are successful in keeping them. Research shows that resolutions fail for a number of reasons.
- The goals were unrealistic.
- Progress wasn’t tracked
- People tend to forget what resolutions they set.
- Some of us make too many resolutions.
One resolution that you should never let fall by the wayside is getting to your destination safely every trip you make. It’s a realistic goal that you can track and not forget. You have one job behind the wheel – just drive.
Here are a few ideas to try if you’re struggling to put your phone down while driving.
- Turn your phone off or switch it to silent.
- Keep your phone out of reach.
- Use the safety features on your phone or a safe driving app to automatically respond to texts with a message that you will get back to the person once you reach your destination.
- Pull over to a safe location if you really need to take or make a call or write, read or respond to a text.
- If you have a passenger, have that person text or talk on the phone for you.
Check out this dad’s mission to end distracted driving - https://www.safekids.org/video/remembering-mitchel-one-dads-mission-prevent-distracted-driving
So far in 2024 in Iowa, four people have been killed in traffic crashes. There were no fatalities on Iowa roads last week. In Iowa in 2023, there were 378 traffic-related deaths. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf