According to the article on KTUU’s website, Mew . . . → Read More: Anchorage Chief of Police Accidently Underscores Danger of Any Driver Being Distracted by a Cell Phone]]> Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew certainly did not intend to focus everyone’s attention on the risks of distracted driving, but his recent accident has brought up a lot of talk about the need for people to not be distracted by their cell phones while driving a car.

According to the article on KTUU’s website, Mew was attempting to silence a calendar alarm on his iPhone when he thought he saw the light change to green. The mistake resulted in Mew bumping the vehicle ahead of him at the intersection.

Given the dangers of distracted driving, there is a law against texting while driving in Alaska. Distracted driving occurs when the operator of a motor vehicle engages in any non-driving activity while operating a motor vehicle, the primary types are:

Visual – the driver takes their eyes off of the road
Manual – the driver’s hands are not on the steering wheel of the vehicle
Cognitive – the driver is not mentally focused on driving the vehicle

When a driver is distracted, it increases the possibility of an accident. Distraction.gov identifies texting as the most alarming form of distraction, because it combines all of the main types of distraction – visual, manual and cognitive. They provide the following list of additional activities that can cause distracted driving:

 Other distracting activities include:

• Using a cell phone
• Eating and drinking
• Talking to passengers
• Grooming
• Reading, including maps
• Using a PDA or navigation system
• Watching a video
• Changing the radio station, CD, or Mp3 player.

In 2009, distracted driving was a factor in 20% of the reported crashes that involved injuries. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety determined that drivers who use hand-held devices are more likely to sustain serious injury themselves when involved in an accident caused by distracted driving. TheNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways in 2009, with an estimate of an additional 448,000 being injured that year in accidents that involved distracted driving.

And according to the University of Utah, a distracted driver using a cell phone had the same delayed reaction time of a person with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent. And the result was apparently the same rather the  cellular phone was hand-held or hands-free, so just using a BlueTooth ear piece does not help reduce the level of distraction while talking on a phone and driving.

We have all come to feel as though we must keep our telephones with us at all times, but there are times when we need to learn to risk being out of communication range for brief periods of time. We have learned to turn off our cellular phones when we are in airplanes, hospitals and movie theaters, or we at least know that we should turn them off in such areas. Can we not also learn to turn off our cellular phones when we are driving a vehicle? For many years people would leave their homes without a cellular phone tucked in their pocket or in a carry case on their belt. Phone booths dotted nearly every corner to provide us with the convenience of telephones for a small fee, now they are a curiosity from a time past.

Cellular phones are an unnecessary distractions for drivers that were borne out of a need to stay in touch with others and a learned necessity to multitask. Driving should be reclaimed as a pleasurable pastime that deserves all of our attention to help keep us and our fellow drivers safe on the road.

The 80 page . . . → Read More: Alaska Travel Books at Amazon]]> I was browsing over at Amazon and came across The Milepost Souvenir Logbook a journal style book designed to be used in keeping a permanent record of your Alaskan Highway experience. And trust me, I have been up and down that road enough times to know that every trip is an experience.

The 80 page book gives you a place to not only journal your experience, but to keep track of important trip information such as mileage, expenses and even the weather on any given day of the journey. There is also an area for recording what animals you have seen on the journey.

Amazon currently has an offer on the Milepost Souvenir Logbook page where they are bundling this book together with two other popular favorites: The Milepost 2008 and Traveler’s Guide to Alaskan Camping: Alaska and Yukon Camping with RV or Tent (Traveler’s Guide series).  A great package choice for those looking to travel to Alaska this coming summer.