The Federal Department of Transportation recently released a set of guidelines to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which they believe can help to reduce the amount of distractions within a vehicle. Many drivers are distracted by the gadgets, people, and items within their car, and fail to keep an eye out the window looking for barriers, roadblocks, traffic, or unexpected situations up ahead.

Many accidents occur because of distracted driving, and many of these incidents are actually preventable. With in-car GPS, entertainment, and mobile device Bluetooth systems, it is easier then ever for drivers to get distracted when out on the road. The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation says that distracted driving is a deadly epidemic that can have devastating consequences.

This is why the Department of Transportation hopes that these new guidelines will help to reduce the amount of accidents. The guidelines include criteria for all electronic devices that are installed in vehicles at the time that they are manufactured. The requirements mostly concern any entertainment or in-car systems that require the driver to take his or her hands off the wheel or eyes off the road in order utilize the features.

Now, manual text entry for the purposes of text messaging and internet browsing will be restricted while the car is in motion. The Department of Transportation also created guidelines that will curb in-car video entertainment systems and communications like video conferencing or Skyping while driving. Also, the in-car systems will have new guidelines placed on all displays of text on the in-car navigation and messaging systems. This includes messaging features, web page display and social media content inside the car.

Studies show that any images or programs on the in-car system that are both visual and manual can degrade a driver's focus and increase the risk of getting into a car accident up to three times as much as an average driver. Studies show that text messaging, browsing, or dialing result in the longest durations of a driver taking their eyes off the road. Text messaging increases the risk of a car crash by two times and most of the time a driver will pull his or her eyes off the road for a total of 23.3 seconds by the time that the text message is sent.

Making a phone call can increase the risk by three times. This is because in most cases making a phone call involves finding the phone, looking up a contact, dialing the number and then having the conversation. By the time that all of these tasks are completed the driver has been sufficiently distracted and an unexpected issue up ahead can cause a sudden collision. The study did not find a direct increased crash risk from just talking on a cell phone.

Still, reports show that the manual-visual interactions that are involved in using a phone make it 1.73 times more risky than suing an in-car system. Still, when people use a Bluetooth system in their phone the Department of Transportation determined that they are performing visual-manual tasks at least 50% of the time. This creates a higher risk. The Department of Transportation is starting a project where they will monitor 3,000 different vehicles to address the levels of distraction while the car is in motion.

After this study is complete, they will continue to encourage automobile manufacturers to create cars that are void of distraction and encourage safe driving. If you have been in a car accident after being hit by a distracted driver, you need to contact a lawyer today for more information. With the right car accident attorney on your side, you may be able to seek compensation in your case.