Passengers in Your Car can be Distracting

When you’ve got other passengers in your car, it goes without saying that you have a responsibility to drive as safely as possible for their sake. However, those passengers have a responsibility to not impede your ability to achieve that goal. It can be easy to minimize your distractions when driving alone, such as ignoring text messages or turning down the volume on the stereo but it can be a little more difficult to do so when talking about the distractions provided by passengers.

Someone riding in the passenger’s seat of your car might not be paying enough attention to what you’re doing to notice when it’s best that they pause the conversation. It can be very frustrating for a driver to try and get their bearings or read a road sign only to have someone asking questions or carrying on an unrelated conversation. While it’s might not always be easy to do and could even be considered rude, it’s an important defensive driving technique to know when you need to ask a passenger to be quiet. Once they realize that you’ve made the request for their own good, they’ll appreciate it and be more respectful to your driving.

Of course, the another thing a passenger can provide is assistance when it comes to being observant of others on the road or as it pertains to direction. It can definitely be helpful to have another set of eyes on the lookout for an upcoming turn or exit that needs to be taken.