NORFOLK, Va. — Have you ever checked your phone, looked around for a snack or taken your eyes off the road to change the song while driving? It may seem harmless, but what could happen in that brief moment can have deadly consequences.
Every day, distracted driving kills 10 people and injures thousands, according to AAA. Experts say almost all crashes caused by distracted driving are preventable.
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People who work outside for a living see distracted driving in our area all the time.
“People ignoring road signs, what’s going on things like that just ignorance,” said a construction worker in Norfolk.
On West Olney Road, the construction workers are hard to miss in their bright neon gear and white hard hats. It’s the law to slow down, but not everyone does.
“Someone on the phone just merged over right in front of us two days ago. So they’re not being responsible and not seeing what’s around them,” said another construction worker.
He continued, “You know, we have lives too. We want to come home to our families and not have to go to a hospital or [have] someone get injured or hurt,” said a construction worker.
Taking your eyes off the road for just a second is all the time it takes to change somebody’s life forever.
According to AAA, nearly 100 people have been hurt and three people have died in distracted driving crashes on Virginia roads in the first three and a half months of the year.
“A lot of things can happen in five seconds when we’re out there on the road. You can sometimes travel the length of one football field, two football fields,” said Ryan Adcock with AAA. “You don’t know how fast you’re moving when you’re out there, especially when you don’t have your eyes on the road.”
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Some pedestrians in downtown Norfolk we spoke to say they feel unsafe crossing the road.
“There are signs out that say, ‘I’m crossing the street,’ but not everybody is going to see those and not everybody is going to see me. So it is dangerous sometimes,” said a pedestrian.
The City of Norfolk is in the process of installing several crosswalks that try to better alert drivers when someone is trying to cross. However, none of this works if drivers don’t do their part.
“Be mindful that it’s not only you on the street,” said Anna Dewey with Norfolk’s Department of Transportation. “You’re not the only one driving, you’re not the only one walking, and just pay attention.”
