It’s an everyday sight on our roads: people who should know better dabbing at lips with gloss, touching up blemishes in their make-up and even brushing wayward strands of hair back in place. It is called distracted driving and although dangerous, still happens every day.
As MiWay Insurance points out, doing makeup while behind the wheel is a habit that has led to many expensive bumper-bashings and even severe injury- a huge price to pay for trying to look your best.
Consider the fact that even a driver moving along at 60km/h is covering a kilometre a minute, or nearly 17 metres a second. That glance in the rear-view or sun-visor mirror means that the vehicle stopped just 10 metres ahead is in grave danger of having its boot modified and a tow truck having to be called out to remove your vehicle.
While statistics for distracted driving are not available for South Africa, the Road Traffic Management Corporation identified in a February 2016 report Inattentive and Distracted Driving as a major problem and one of the leading causes of single vehicle road crashes among young people.
Putting on make-up, or any other distraction for that matter, doubles reaction time to three seconds – meaning that by the time you react, it’s already far too late.
Being distracted is dangerous, regardless of whether you are stationary at a traffic light or moving slowly.
While you are engrossed with looking in the mirror, you could:
- Become a victim of crime. Criminals need just a few seconds to smash a window and grab a handbag off a seat. Worse yet, because your attention is elsewhere, you could become a hijack victim.
- Be involved in a collision. While you are preoccupied, the chances are that you won’t see an out of control car heading towards your vehicle. That’s because checking your appearance may require that the rear-view mirror is moved out of position. This repositioning of the mirror interferes with your peripheral vision. Using a mirror in a visor blocks the forward view.
- Cause a collision. If you are driving, having to slam on brakes or swerve suddenly could result in a crash. If you are unfortunate enough to be distracted while driving on a highway, the consequences could be even worse.
- Be injured. A vehicle slamming into your car could result in a mascara wand piercing an eye, whiplash or other injuries because you don’t have the time to take evasive action or brace for the accident.
- Find yourself facing criminal charges. It’s called ‘driving without due care, or reckless driving’, and attracts hefty fines and other consequences including suspension of licences.
On a lighter note, you could become that driver – the one who doesn’t notice that the traffic light has changed and earns the anger, gestures and hoots of other drivers who have places to go. All the noise and anger could also make you forget that you only have half a face on or have missed a critical area that needs blending. If you’re distracted, you may even forget to apply mascara to one eye, leaving you looking a little one-sided.
Beyond the road risks, there is your car insurance to consider. Insurance companies reject claims if a collision is caused by a driver who is acting recklessly or grossly negligent. In this case, you could find yourself not only paying for the damage to your car, but also the damage caused to the other vehicle involved in the collision.
Thinking about all this makes two practical alternatives attractive:
- Either add a few minutes to your daily routine at home for grooming before getting behind the wheel, or
- pull off the road at a service station and undertake emergency makeup repairs while the car is parked, and the engine is switched off.
Taking these precautions will ensure that you arrive looking your best, less stressed and, most importantly, ready to live your way!
MiWay is a licensed insurer & FSP 33970. Ts & Cs apply.
Don’t Drive Distracted!! Don’t Text and Drive!! https://t.co/MlJgtLsKcL #ArriveAlive pic.twitter.com/zrLsirR5FU
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) October 28, 2019