US: Passengers cause 10.9% of Vehicle Accidents by Singing, Arguing & Eating Kebabs

OPINION

Never mind, backseat driving which we know can cause accidents, but many other things too can be 'the fault of the passenger'. 

Though I haven't had 'issues with singing in cars' I have had 'disagreements'with  map reading and once was stopped by the police whilst trying to talk to the passenger who had the map who was supposed to be navigating. Fortunately, he was a very nice policeman and let me off, but I certainly became more aware of talking to the passenger after that.

Fortunately, now I cycle, I don't have any of that grief anymore.

According to the website www.youclaim.com, personal injury lawyers

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Passenger accidents can have various causes. Even a simple non-antagonistic conversation, if not conducted with due care and attention to the road, can distract a driver into making catastrophic errors.

Arguments, on the other hand, have a much higher chance of resulting in a road accident, as the human brain is ill equipped to be able to concentrate on complex manual tasks whilst simultaneously being occupied with strong emotions. Although figures detailing the incidence of such crashes are very hard to collate, it is estimated that such driver-passenger arguments are the cause of thousands of serious road accidents worldwide each year.

Passengers can cause more than verbal distraction to a driver. Eating strong-smelling food, smoking, singing and making sudden unexplained movements may all present hazards to a driver.In fact, the AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety in the USA has found passenger-caused distraction to be behind 10.9% of all road accidents that cite driver distraction as their primary cause.

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