Attorney Speaks Out On Distracted Driving

Attorney Wayne Hogan visited the Jacksonville Job Corps Center for the second time with a message about “Distracted Driving”. With over 250 students and staff at the Jacksonville Job Corps Center intently listening to the dangers of distracted driving Attorney Hogan began his person story of why this is so important to him.

In his talk, Hogan said distracted driving endangers the passengers on the buses, the drivers sharing the road with them and the JTA bus drivers (Hogan noted that JTA has a no tolerance policy in place for its drivers). He explained how one text or call can wreck it all, and that despite common awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, many drivers are under the miscon­ception that talking and driving – especially hands-free — is safe. It’s not. That’s because our brains cannot multi-task; they do not do two things at once well; instead, they “attention switch,” between tasks, known as cognitive distraction. Adding to the problem: dashboard technology in new vehicles that encourage constant connec­tivity. Hogan concluded, “Hands-free is not what it’s cracked up to be.”

State Senator Audrey Gibson who works with the attorney demonstrated how driving with a blind fold is equal to driving while distracted with food, your phone, radio etc. She encouraged the audience to be vigilant while driving and simply put the phone down.